FOLKLORE  OF  WOMEN 


Won 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

University  of  California. 


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FOLK-LORE  OF   WOMEN 


FOLK-LORE  OF  WOMEN 


AS 

ILLUSTRATED  BY  LEGENDARY 
AND  TRADITIONARY  TALES 
FOLK-RHYMES,  PROVERBIAL 
SAYINGS,  SUPERSTITIONS,  ETC. 


T.  F.  THISELTON-DYER,  M.A.  Oxon 

AUTHOR  OK  "OLD   ENGLISH  SOCIAL  LIFE,   ETC.,  ETC." 


CHICAGO 

A.    C.    McCLURG    &    CO. 

LONDON:  ELLIOT  STOCK 

I906 


American  Edition 
Published  October  20,  1906 


y 


PREFACE 


& 


IN  one  of  his  essays,  Emerson  tells  us  that 
"  proverbs,  like  the  sacred  books  of  each 
nation,  are  the  sanctuary  of  the  intuitions/'  a 
statement  which,  if  accepted,  must  place  this 
class  of  literature  on  a  very  high  footing.  But, 
although  due  caution  must  be  taken,  when 
analysing  proverbial  lore,  to  differentiate  between 
the  serious  and  jocular  element  contained  therein, 
it  may  safely  be  said  that,  taken  as  a  whole,  such 
adages  and  saws — which  form  an  important  branch 
of  folk-lore — express  more  or  less  correctly  the 
estimate  of  mankind  relative  to  the  subject 
specially  handled.  And,  when  it  is  remembered 
what  a  wealth  of  material  proverbial  literature 
supplies  in  connection  with  every  concern  of  daily 
life,  it  is  not  surprising  that  woman  should  have 
been  made  a  prominent  theme  for  criticism  and 
comment,  the  judgment  passed  on  her  being  in 
most  cases  fairly  evenly  divided  between  what  is 
*in  her  favour  or  the  reverse. 

In  a  field,  too,  so  wide  we  have  been  content 
to   cull,  from    here    and    there,  sufficient    typical 


212464 


viii  Preface 

instances  of  the  proverbial  wisdom  of  the  human 
race  in  its  teaching  of  woman's  character  as  to 
illustrate  the  subjects  classified  in  the  following 
chapters,  without  unduly  multiplying  examples, 
which  only  too  frequently  are  a  repetition  of 
the  same  adage  told  in  a  different  form. 

And,  although  at  one  time  or  another  numerous 
volumes  have  been  published  on  woman,  no  work 
similar  to  the  present  one  has  been  attempted  in 
this  country,  wherein  we  have  endeavoured  in  a 
handy  and  concise  form  to  classify  under  their 
subjective  headings  the  proverbial  sayings,  folk- 
rhymes,  superstitions,  and  traditionary  lore  asso- 
ciated with  the  fair  sex.  Some  years  ago,  however, 
a  valuable  and  interesting  work  was  issued  in  Paris 
by  Pierre  Marie  Quitard,  entitled  "  Proverbes  sur 
les  femmes,  l'amitie  l'amour,  &c.,"  which  contains 
much  curious  information,  and  the  introductory 
chapter  of  Kelly's  useful  volume,  "Proverbs  of  all 
Nations,  Compared,  Explained,  and  Illustrated," 
is  devoted  to  women,  love,  and  marriage.  Among 
some  of  the  works  published  in  England  on 
proverbial  literature  to  which  we  are  indebted 
are  Christy's  "  Proverbs  of  All  Ages "  (2  vols., 
1888),  Denny's  "  Proverbs  of  Many  Nations," 
William  Stirling's  "  Essay  towards  a  Collection 
of  Books  relating  to  Proverbs,  &c."  (i860),  H. 
H.  Vaughan's  "  Welsh  Proverbs,"  Hislop's 
"  Proverbs  of  Scotland"  (1870),  Macintosh's 
"Gaelic  Proverbs"  (1882),  and  Standing's 
"Anecdotes  and  Proverbs"  (1891),  besides  the 
various  works  issued  by  the  Folk-Lore  Society, 
the   several  series  of  Notes  and  Queries — to  the 


Preface  ix 

pages  of  which  folk-lorists  owe  a  deep  debt  of 
gratitude,  information  chronicled  therein  not  to 
be  found  elsewhere — and  a  recent  useful  work  on 
«  Proverb  Lore,"  by  F.  E.  Hulme. 

Among  older  works  which  deserve  perusal  may- 
be noticed  John  Heywood's  "  Dialogue  and 
Epigrams,"  which  made  its  first  appearance  in 
1546,  and  the  famous  work  of  John  Ray,  which 
was  issued  in  1670,  and  was  incorporated  by  Mr. 
Bohn  in  his  "  Handbook  of  Proverbs,"  published 
in  1857.  Herbert's  "Outlandish  Proverbs," 
printed  in  1640,  contains  many  curious  and 
amusing  sayings,  and  one  section  of  Camden's 
"  Remains,"  which  first  appeared  in  1605,  is 
devoted  to  a  collection  of  proverbs. 

Mr.  Hazlitt,  in  his  preface  to  his  "  English 
Proverbs  and  Proverbial  Phrases"  (1869),  has 
made  a  valuable  survey  of  the  literature  of  pro- 
verb-lore in  this  country,  and  Dean  Trench,  in 
his  introduction  to  his  "  Proverbs  and  their 
Lessons,"  alluding  to  "  the  immense  number  and 
variety  of  books  bearing  on  the  subject,"  truly 
remarks  that  most  of  these  compilations  "  in- 
clude matter  which  cannot  fitly  be  placed  before 
all,  or  they  address  themselves  to  the  scholar 
alone  ;  or,  if  not  so,  are  at  any  rate  inaccessible 
to  the  mere  English  reader  ;  or  they  contain  bare 
lists  of  proverbs,  with  no  endeavour  to  compare, 
illustrate,  or  explain  them— or,  if  they  do  seek  to 
explain,  they  yet  do  it  without  attempting  to 
sound  the  depths  or  measure  the  real  significance 
of  that  which  they  attempt  to  unfold."  For  the 
same  reason  we  have  been  obliged  to  omit  a  very 


x  Preface 

large  number  of  proverbs  as  unsuitable  for  the 
general  reader,  although,  unfortunately,  very  many 
of  these  old  adages  are  witty  and  amusing,  but 
their  coarseness  renders  them  out  of  place  in  a 
work  of  the  present  kind. 

Many  valuable  works  illustrative  of  foreign 
proverb-lore  have  appeared  at  intervals,  and,  in 
addition  to  those  connected  with  France  already 
quoted,  may  be  noticed  "  Les  Proverbes  de  la 
langue  francaise,"  par  D.  Loubens  (1889), 
A.  Marietta's  "  French  and  English  Proverbs " 
(1896-7),  G.  Belcour's  "Selection  of  French 
Proverbs,"  and  M.  de  Lincy's  "  French  Collec- 
tion of  Proverbs,"  published  in  two  volumes  in 
1880. 

Much  that  is  interesting  in  connection  with 
womankind  will  be  found  in  J.  Barten's  "  Collec- 
tion of  English  and  German  Proverbs"  (1890), 
and  in  J.  Muddlemore's  "  Proverbs  in  Various 
Languages"  (1889);  and  an  old  work  which 
deserves  notice  is  Torriano's  "  Italian  Proverbs," 
published  as  far  back  as  1666.  It  may  be  added 
that  a  large  number  of  publications  on  proverb- 
lore  which  illustrate  our  subject  have  been  pub- 
lished abroad,  many  of  which,  although  not  easily 
accessible  elsewhere,  may  be  seen  at  the  British 
Museum  ;  and  amongst  some  of  the  works  to 
which  we  are  indebted  may  be  mentioned  J.  R. 
Jewett's  "Arabic  Proverbs"  (1891),  being  the 
fifteenth  volume  of  the  American  Oriental 
Society,  S.  W.  Fallon's  "  Hindustani  Proverbs " 
(1880),  P.  R.  T.  Gurdon's  "Assamese  Proverbs" 
(1896),  G.  Bayan's  "Armenian  Proverbs"  (1889), 


Preface  xi 

and  an  interesting  little  volume  on  "  Kashmiri 
Proverbs,"  by  J.  H.  Knowles,  which  was  pub- 
lished at  Bombay  in   1885. 

In  1890  there  was  issued  at  Colombo  a  good 
collection  of  Sinhalese  and  European  proverbs  by 
N.  Mendis,  and  in  1897  Mr.  H.  Jensen  produced 
his  "  Tamil  Proverbs,"  which  contains  much  that 
has  its  counterpart  in  our  own  proverbial  lore 
relating  to  woman  ;  while  Mr.  W.  F.  Johnson's 
u  Hindi  Proverbs"  (1886)  further  largely  adds 
to  the  estimate  formed  of  the  fair  sex. 

Mr.  A.  H.  Smith's  "Chinese  Proverbs"  is 
excellent  as  far  as  it  goes,  and  Mr.  Pfoundes,  in 
his  "  Notes,"  has  collected  many  of  the  Japanese 
proverbs.  Herr  Knobloch,  too,  in  the  "  Trans- 
actions of  the  German  Society  of  Japan,"  has 
done  much  in  this  direction,  whilst  Sir  Edward 
J.  Reed's  important  work  on  "  Japan  :  its  His- 
tory, Traditions,  and  Religions"  (1880,  2  vols.) 
has  devoted  a  chapter  to  the  proverbs  and  pro- 
verbial sayings  current  among  the  Japanese  people, 
in  many  of  which  he  says,  "  there  is  in  the  original 
a  play  upon  words  which  cannot  be  translated, 
but  which  sharpens  the  point  of  the  phrase  to  the 
native" — a  remark,  however,  which  applies  to  most 
translations  of  foreign  proverbs.  When  we  turn 
to  Japanese  wisdom  relative  to  woman's  beauty, 
we  find  much  the  same  advice  given  as  is  found 
amongst  Western  nations,  one  of  their  popular 
admonitions  reminding  us  that  "  the  heart  is 
better  than  a  beautiful  face " — in  other  words, 
it  is  far  better  for  a  woman  to  have  a  good  heart 
than   to   have  a  be  utiful  face  ;   and   the   danger 


xii  Preface 

that  often  lurks  behind  a  pretty  face  has  been 
incorporated  into  many  of  their  proverbs,  one  of 
which  runs  thus  :  "  Beware  of  beautiful  women 
as  you  would  of  red  pepper "  ;  and,  it  may  be 
added,  even  the  Japanese  have  long  ago  com- 
mented in  their  proverbial  lore  on  woman's 
loquacity,  one  of  their  household  maxims  re- 
affirming what,  under  one  form  or  another,  seems 
to  be  universally  acknowledged — that  "  a  woman's 
tongue  three  inches  long  can  kill  a  man  six  feet 

high.- 

Among  some  of  the  other  works  to  which  we 
have  been  more  or  less  indebted  in  the  succeeding 
pages  may  be  mentioned  the  following  :  J. 
Christian's  "  Behar  Proverbs "  ;  A.  Manwaring's 
"  Marathi  Proverbs";  "  Telugu  Proverbs,"  by 
Narasimha  Acharyulu  ;  a  Sindhi  Proverbs,"  by 
Rochiram  Gajumal  ;  "  English  Proverbs,  with 
Urdu  Equivalents,"  by  Wazir  Ahmad  ;  "  Os- 
manli  Proverbs,"  by  Ahmad  Midhat  (1898); 
and    W.     E.     Taylor's     "  African     Aphorisms " 

(1891). 

T.  F.  THISELTON-DYER. 


CONTENTS 


* 


CHAPTER   I 


WOMAN  S    CHARACTERISTICS 


WOMAN  S    BEAUTY 


CHAPTER   II 


CHAPTER   III 


PAGE 

.     vii 


WOMAN  S    DRESS 


34 


CHAPTER    IV 


WOMAN  S    EYES 


.       48 


CHAPTER   V 


WOMAN  S    TONGUE 


63 


xiv  Contents 


CHAPTER   VI 

PAGE 

woman's  goodness  .  .  .  .  '77 

CHAPTER   VII 

BAD    WOMEN  .....  84 

CHAPTER    VIII 

woman's  love    .  .  .  .  .  .92 

CHAPTER    IX 
woman's  hate  .  .  .  .  .  99 

CHAPTER    X 
love  tests  .  .  .  .  .  .101 

CHAPTER    XI 

woman's  secrets      .  .  .  .  .108 

CHAPTER    XII 

RED-HAIRED    GIRLS  .  .  .  .  .     I  I  3 

CHAPTER    XIII 

woman's  fickleness  .  .  .  •.  120 

CHAPTER    XIV 

local  allusions  to  women        .  .  .  .125 


Contents  xv 


CHAPTER   XV 

PAGE 

woman's   will  .  .  .  .  .138 

CHAPTER    XVI 

WOMEN    AND     MARRIAGE      .  .  .  .  .     I  \\ 

CHAPTER    XVII 

WOMEN    AS    WIVES        .  .  .    '  .  .  I  58 

CHAPTER    XVIII 

YOUNG    AND    OLD    MAIDS    .  .  ..  .  •     '75 

CHAPTER    XIX 

WIDOWS  ......  183. 

CHAPTER    XX 
woman's  curiosity  .... 


CHAPTER    XXI 

SISTER    LEGENDS 


91 


99 


CHAPTER   XXII 

BRIDES    AND    THEIR    MAIDS  ....     206 

CHAPTER    XXIII 

SUPERSTITIONS    ABOUT    WOMEN  .  .  .  2l6 


xvi  Contents 


CHAPTER    XXIV 

PAGE 

woman's  tears  ......   228 


CHAPTER    XXV 

woman's  blushes      .  .  .  .  .231 

CHAPTER    XXVI 

daughters  .  .  .  .  .  .   235 

CHAPTER    XXVII 

MY    LADY'S    WALK        .....  242 

INDEX      .......     249 


CHAPTER   I 

woman's  characteristics 

It  is  only  a  woman  that   can   make  a    man    become    the 
parody  of  himself. — French  Proverb. 

PROVERBIAL  philosophy  has  long  agreed 
that  woman  is  a  complex  creature,  little 
understood,  and,  according  to  Michelet,  "  she  is  a 
miracle  of  Divine  contradictions  ;  "  an  opinion 
endorsed  by  Pope,  who  in  his  "  Moral  Essays,"  I 
writes,  "Woman's  at  best  a  contradiction  still;" 
and,  further,  by  Richter,2  who  says,  "  A  woman 
is  the  most  inconsistent  compound  of  obstinacy 
and  self-sacrifice  that  I  am  acquainted  with." 
The  wisest  sages  from  the  earliest  period  have 
been  forced  to  admit  that  he  would  be  a  truly 
clever  man  who  could  understand,  and  account 
for,  the  many  and  varied  characteristics  of 
womankind,  for,  as  Lord  Byron  wrote  : — 

"  What  a  strange  thing  is  man  !     And  what  a  stranger 
Is  woman  !     What  a  whirlwind  is  her  head  ! 
And  what  a  whirlpool,  full  of  depth  and  danger, 
Is  all  the  rest  about  her  !     Whether  wed 


1  Ep.  ii.,  line  270. 

2  "  Flower,  Fruit,  and  Thorn." 


Folk- Lore  of  Women 


-       Or  widow,  maid  or  mother,  she  can  change  her 
Mind  like  the  wind  ;  whatever  she  has  said 
Or  done,  is  light  to  what  she  shall  say  or  do — 
The  oldest  thing  on  record,  and  yet  new."  l 

And  yet  it   is  universally    acknowledged    that 
woman  is  indispensable  to  man's  happiness  and  well- 
being,  for,  as  it  is  said  in  Germany,  "  Man  without 
woman  is  head  without  body,  woman  without  man 
is  body  without  head,"  which  corresponds  with  the 
French  adage,  "  Without  woman  the  two  extremes 
of  life  would  be  without  help,  and  the  middle  of 
it  without  pleasure  ;  "  and,  long  ago,  the  Egyptians 
were  wont  to  represent  a  man  without  a  woman 
by  a  single  millstone,  which  cannot  grind   alone. 
The  Burmese,  too,  of  to-day  maintain  that  "  of 
all  beings  woman  is  most  excellent ;  she  is  the  chief 
of  supporters  ;  "2  and,  according  to  another  of  their 
proverbial  maxims,  "  her  intelligence  is  four  times 
that    of  man,    her    assiduity  six  times,    and    her 
desires  eight  times."     Eastern  proverbs  are  highly 
complimentary    to    women  ;    for  whereas,   says    a 
Sanskrit   adage,   "  they  are  instructed   by  nature, 
the  learning  of  men  is  taught  by  books  ;  "  or, 
as    another    piece    of    Oriental    wisdom   reminds 
us,  "  Nature  is  woman's  teacher,   and  she  learns 
more  sense  than   man,  the  pedant,  gleams  from 
books."  3     And,  in  short,  the  power  and  influence 


1  "Don  Juan,"  canto  ix.  st.  64. 

2  See  the  "  Niti  Literature  of  Burma,"   by  James  Gray, 
1886,  p.  71. 

3  See     the     Rev.     T.    Long's     "  Eastern     Proverbs     and 
Emblems,"  1881,  p.  7. 


Woman  s  Characteristics 


of  woman  have  been  admirably  described  by 
Thomas  Otway  in  his  "  Venice  Preserved  " 
(act  i.  sc.    i)  : — 

"  O  woman  !  lovely  woman  !   Nature  made  thee 
To  temper  man  ;  we  had  been  brutes  without  you. 
Angels  are  painted  fair  to  look  like  you" — 

which  is  somewhat  at  variance  with  a  popular 
Russian  proverb  to  the  effect  that  "  the  man  is 
head  of  the  woman,  but  she  rules  him  by  her 
temper;  "  and  with  the  Spanish  maxim, "  A  woman's 
counsel  is  not  much,  but  he  that  despises  it  is  a 
fool ;  "  and  again,  with  the  Hindustani  proverb, 
"  Woman  is  wise  when  too  late."  But  it  would 
appear  that,  in  summing  up  the  characteristics  of 
woman,  proverbial  lore,  taken  as  a  whole,  is  far 
more  favourably  disposed  to  her  good  points  than 
the  reverse,  as  is  clearly  the  case  with  that  of  our 
French  neighbours,  who,  long  ago,  have  freely 
admitted  the  power  of  her  influence  in  the  world. 
Thus  we  are  told  that  "women  can  do  everything, 
because  they  rule  those  who  command  everything ; " 
and  u  Women  are  the  extreme,  they  are  either 
better  or  worse  than  men  ;  "  and,  again,  it  is  said, 
"  The  world  is  the  book  of  women  " — a  Kashmiri 
proverb  truly  maintaining  that  u  One  woman  is 
wealth  to  you,  another  ruination." 

Woman  has  often  been  said  to  be  equal  to  any 
emergency,  a  German  saying  expressing  this  idea 
thus  :  "  Though  an  elephant  and  a  tiger  come 
she  will  leap  over  them  ;  "  and  Hindustani  lore 
waxes  eloquent  on  this  point — "  What  cannot  a 
woman    do  ?     What    cannot  the   ocean    contain  ? 


Folk- Lore  of  Women 


What  cannot  the  fire  burn  ?  What  cannot  death 
destroy  ?  " 

Most  Oriental  proverbs  are  much  to  the  same 
effect,  and  it  is  said  that  "  None  know  the  wily 
tricks  of  a  woman  ;  they  will  kill  their  husbands, 
and  then  burn  themselves,"  in  order  to  prove  their 
innocence  ;  and  again  we  are  told,  "  Women's  wills 
and  thieves'  tricks  cannot  be  fathomed."  And  an 
old  Welsh  proverb  warns  us  against  the  artifices 
of  womankind,  for — 

"  Nothing  earthly  hath  a  way 
Like  a  woman  to  betray  ;  " 

and  Hindustani  lore  tells  us  that  "  Womankind  is 
perfidious  ;"  and  much  to  the  same  purport  is  the 
Assamese  saying — 

"  Of  women,  Miris,  the  parrot,  and  the  crow, 
The  minds  of  these  four  you  cannot  know  ; " 

for  the  Assamese  never  trust  women ;  and  not 
very  complimentary  is  the  Hindu  saying,  "  My 
lady  drops  a  spark  in  the  chaff,  and  stands  off  to 
see  the  fun."  Another  common  notion,  under- 
lying the  proverbial  lore  relating  to  women,  is 
their  meanness — an  amusing  illustration  of  which 
may  be  quoted  from  Hindustani  maxims,  one  of 
which  runs  thus  :  "  Three  cakes  of  a  pennyweight 
each,  and  all  her  friends  to  eat  them."  But  the 
reason  for  this  frequent  trait  of  character  has 
been  assigned  to  a  woman's  proverbial  love  of 
money,  for — 

"  Nothing  agreeth  worse 
Than  a  lady's  heart  and  a  beggar's  purse." 


Woman  s  Characteristics 


But,  it  must  be  remembered,  another  proverb  tells 
us  that — 


"  Weal  and  women  cannot  pan 
But  woe  and  women  can  " — 


(<  pan  "  being  equivalent  to  harmonise. 

Proverbial  philosophy  is  full  of  warning  against 
forming  hastily  an  estimate  of  women's  character, 
for,  as  the  German  adage  runs,  "  He  must  have 
keen  eyes  that  would  know  a  maid  at  sight." 
We  are  further  told  that  a  woman  should  be  seen 
at  home,  when  engaged  in  her  household  duties, 
to  form  a  clear  estimate  of  her  character  ;  and  the 
Danish  proverb  inculcates  this  rule  :  "  You  must 
judge  a  maiden  at  the  kneading  trough,  and  not 
at  the  dance." 

That  two  women  seldom  keep  friends  for  long 
without  quarrelling  has  long  been  proverbial, 
and  a  Tamil  adage  remarks  that  <CA  thousand 
men  may  live  together  in  harmony,  whereas  two 
women  are  unable  to  do  so  though  they  be  sisters." 
And  the  many  ailments  to  which,  under  one  form 
or  another,  women  are  supposed  to  be  susceptible, 
have  been  incorporated  into  many  a  proverb  like 
the  following  :  "  A  mill,  a  clock,  and  a  woman, 
always  want  mending." 

It  has  long  been  said  that  there  is  no  accounting 
for  a  woman's  tastes,  and,  according  to  an  old 
English  proverb,  "  A  black  man  is  a  jewel  in  a 
fair  woman's  eyes  ; "  and,  vice  versa,  we  are 
told  that  "A  black  woman  hath  turpentine  in 
her,"   a    belief  which    has    been    told    in   various 


Folk- Lore  of  Women 


ways,  an  old  proverbial  phrase  quoted  by  Hazlitt 
giving  this  advice — 

"  To  a  red  man  read  thy  read  ; 
With  a  brown  man  break  thy  bread  ; 
At  a  pale  man  draw  thy  knife, 
From  a  black  man  keep  thy  wife  " — 

in  illustration  of  which  he  gives  the  subjoined 
note  from  Tofte's  translation  of  Varchi's  "  Blazon 
of  Jealousie  "  ( 1 6 1 5,  p.  21): — "The  Persians 
were  wont  to  be  so  jealous  of  their  wives,  as  they 
never  suffered  them  to  go  abroad  but  in  waggons 
close  shut,  but  at  this  day  the  Italian  is  counted 
the  man  that  is  most  subject  to  this  vice,  the 
sallow-complexioned  fellow  with  a  black  beard, 
being  he  that  is  most  prone,  as  well  to  suspect,  as 
to  be  suspected  about  women's  matters,  according 
to  the  old  saying." 

It  would  seem  that,  in  early  times,  the  fair  sex 
were  supposed  to  have  the  greater  charms,  and 
accordingly  they  were  styled,  "  Children  of  the 
Gods"  by  the  Greeks.  In  "As  you  Like  it" 
(act  iii.  sc.  5),  the  Shepherdess  Phcebe  complains 
of  being  scorned  on  account  of  her  being  dark — 

"  I  have  more  cause  to  hate  him  than  to  love  him  : 
For  what  had  he  to  do  to  chide  at  me  ? 
He  said  mine  eyes  were  black  and  my  hair  black  : 
And,  now  I  am  remember'd,  scorned  at  me."  J 

Indeed,  as  a  writer  has  observed  in  the,  Saturday 
Review,    the   time    was  when    the    black-haired, 

1    See  Chapter  on  the  "  Eyes." 


Woman  s  Characteristics 


black-eyed  girl  of  fiction  was  as  dark  of  soul  as  of 
tresses,  while  the  blue-eyed  maiden's  character  was 
of  "  Heaven's  own  colour."  But  Thackeray 
changed  this  tradition  by  invariably  making  his 
dark  heroines  nice,  his  fair  heroines  "  treacherous 
sirens."  Another  item  of  folk-lore  tells  us 
that — 

"  A  brown  wench  in  face 
Shows  that  nature  gives  her  grace," 

and  many  of  our  country  peasantry  still  affirm 
that  "a  too  brown  lass  is  gay  and  cleanly ; "  whilst, 
in  accordance  with  an  old  proverbial  rhyme — 

"  The  red  is  wise,  the  brown  trusty, 
The  pale  envious,  the  dark  lusty." 

Dr.  Paul  Topinard,  in  his  "Anthropology," 
has  made  an  interesting  summary  of  the  variation 
of  the  colour  of  the  skin,  from  the  fairest  English- 
woman to  the  darkest  African,  furnishing  us  with 
numerous  examples  of  the  many  hues  which  form 
the  distinguishing  marks  of  different  nationalities. 
These  are  interesting  if  only  as  showing  how 
widely  one  country  differs  from  another  in  its 
notion  as  to  what  constitutes  beauty  in  the  com- 
plexion. And,  turning  to  uncultured  tribes,  Dr. 
Letourneau  has  given  some  curious  illustrations 
in  his  u  Sociology "  on  this  point,  which  show 
how  vastly  different  are  their  conceptions  of  beauty 
of  complexion,  some  races  even  disfiguring  them- 
selves with  pigments  of  the  most  glaring  colours. 

French  proverbial  wisdom  in  further  enume- 
rating the  main  features  of  a  woman's  character, 


8  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

says  that  her  heart  is  a  real  mirror,  which  "  reflects 
every  object  without  attaching  itself  to  any  ;  "  and 
in  Germany,  whilst  due  praise  is  bestowed  on  the 
fair  sex,  women's  varied  traits  of  character  have 
not  escaped  criticism — one  very  common  maxim 
affirming  that  "  she  is  at  the  mercy  of  circumstances 
just  as  the  sand  is  at  the  mercy,  of  the  wind;" 
whilst  we  are  further  told  that,  although  "  woman 
reads  and  studies  endlessly,  her  thought  is  always 
an  afterthought/'  The  Russian  is  of  the  same 
opinion,  for,  according  to  him,  "  a  woman's  hair  is 
long,  but  her  sense  short,"  and  "  a  dog  is  wiser 
than  a  woman,  he  does  not  bark  at  his  master." 
Tamil  proverbial  wisdom  declares  that  u  the  skill 
of  a  woman  only  goes  so  far  as  the  fireplace  " — in 
other  words,  cleverness  is  no  use  to  a  woman 
outside  domestic  affairs  ;  and  the  not  very  compli- 
mentary old  English  adage  says,  "  When  an  ass 
climbs  a  ladder,  we  may  find  wisdom  in  a 
woman  ;  "  whilst  another  old  saying  runs,  "  She 
hath  less  beauty  than  her  picture,  and  truly  not 
much  more  wit." 

In  some  instances,  we  find  the  essential  require- 
ments needed  to  make  a  good  woman  laid  down, 
as  in  an  excellent  Chinese  proverb,  which  runs 
thus  :  "  We  ask  four  things  for  a  woman — that 
virtue  dwell  in  her  heart,  modesty  in  her  forehead, 
sweetness  in  her  mouth,  and  labour  in  her  hands;" 
with  which  may  be  compared  a  well-known 
Sanskrit  maxim,  "  The  beauty  of  the  cuckoo  is 
the  voice,  of  women  chastity  ;  of  the  deformed 
learning,  and  of  ascetics  patience."  On  the  other 
hand,  under  a  variety  of  forms,  proverbial  literature 


Woman  s  Characteristics  g 


inculcates  the  necessity  of  our  remembrance  of 
these  four  evils  thus  summed  up  in  the  Italian 
warning  :  <c  From  four  things  God  preserve  us — 
a  painted  woman,  a  conceited  valet,  salt  beef 
without  mustard,  and  a  little  late  dinner."  A 
similar  idea  is  conveyed  in  the  Assamese  proverb  : 
"  To  be  the  husband  of  a  worthless  woman,  a  cart 
covering  with  a  hole  in  the  middle  of  it,  a  hired 
weaver — these  three  are  the  agony  of  death."  To 
understand  this  proverb  it  must  be  remembered 
that  "  in  Assam  the  bullock  cart  is  covered  with 
a  hood  made  of  matting,  with  bamboo  hoops 
to  support  it.  Any  one  who  has  travelled  in  a 
bullock  cart  with  a  hole  in  the  hood  will  appre- 
ciate its  truth." 

A  trait  of  character,  however,  which  women  are 
proverbially  said  to  their  disadvantage  to  possess, 
is  a  lack  of  truth  and  reliability ;  and,  according 
to  an  old  proverb,  "  He  who  takes  an  eel  by  the 
tail,  or  a  woman  at  her  word,  soon  finds  he  holds 
nothing."  The  popular  adage  which  warns  a  man 
not  to  trust  a  woman  further  than  he  can  see 
her  has  been  variously  expressed,  one  version  in 
Germany  being  "  Arms,  women,  and  books  should 
be  looked  at  daily;"  and,  according  to  another,  it 
is  said,  "Beware  of  a  bad  woman,  and  put  no  trust 
in  a  good  one ;  "  which  are  similar  to  the  Hindus- 
tani adage,  "  A  hare  and  a  woman  are  yours  while 
in  your  power."  The  Italians  have  a  maxim  to  the 
same  effect,  "Woman  always  speak  the  truth,  but  not 
the  whole  truth,"  and  hence  there  are  the  frequent 
admonitions  against  trusting  womankind,  for  the 
French  affirm  that  "  he  who  trusts  a  woman  and 


io  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

leads  an  ass  will  never  be  free  from  plague ;  "  and, 
similarly,  it  is  said,  "  The  ruses  of  women  multiply 
with  their  years ; "  and  where  truth  is  deficient  in  a 
woman  there  can  be  no  reliance  in  her  word,  for, 
as  the  Chinese  affirm,  "  An  untruthful  woman  is 
rotten  grass  and  tangled  hemp."  But,  unreliable 
as  a  woman  at  times  may  be,  we  cannot  endorse 
the  Turkish  maxim,  "  The  dog  is  faithful,  woman 
never  ;  "  which  is  not  unlike  the  Kashmiri  pro- 
verb :  "A  horse,  a  wife,  and  a  sword,  these  three 
are  unfaithful ;  "  and  Hindu  proverbial  literature, 
speaking  of  woman's  insincerity,  says  that  "  while 
the  wife  is  eating  her  husband's  food,  she  is  in- 
wardly singing  the  praises  of  her  mother." 

On  the  other  hand,  in  defence  of  woman,  it  has 
been  urged  that  good-nature  and  simplicity  of 
character  are  liable  to  imposition,  for,  as  it  is 
commonly  said,  "  All  lay  load  on  the  winning 
horse,"  a  version  of  which  is  to  be  found  among 
Sindhi  proverbs  :  "  A  mild-faced  woman  has  her 
cheeks  pulled."  We  may  further  compare  our 
own  proverbs :  "She  is  as  quiet  as  a  wasp  in  one's 
nose,"  and  "  She  looks  as  if  butter  would  not  melt 
in  her  mouth ;  "  and,  again,  "  A  gentle  housewife 
mars  the  household  " — in  other  words,  through 
her  leniency  there  is  "  a  want  of  discipline." 

An  amusing  phrase  to  denote  a  proud  woman 
is  this,  "She  holds  up  her  head  like  a  hen 
drinking  water  ; "  and  when  Herefordshire  folk 
speak  of  a  strong,  robust  girl,  the  remark  may 
still  occasionally  be  heard,  "  She  hath  one  point 
of  a  good  hawk,  she  is  hardy."  When  a  girl 
simpers  and   puts  on   an  affected   appearance,   in 


Woman  s  Characteristics  1 1 


such  a  way  as  to  excite  ridicule  and  amusement, 
she  is  still,  in  old  proverbial  phraseology,  said  to 
"  simper  as  a  mare  when  she  eats  thistles,"  or  to 
"  simper  like  a  furmity  kettle."  An  indolent  girl 
is  described  as  "  having  broken  her  elbow,"  and 
the  phrase  applied  to  a  woman  who  grows  in- 
active after  marriage  is,  "  She  hath  broken  her 
elbow  at  the  church-door."  The  same  idea,  again, 
is  conveyed  in  the  adage,  u  She  had  rather  kiss 
than  spin,"  implying  that  many  a  young  girl, 
instead  of  being  industrious  at  home,  would  much 
sooner  gad  about  and  play  with  love  ;  and,  if  this 
be  not  in  her  power,  to  use  a  Somersetshire  phrase, 
"  She  is  as  crusty  as  that  is  hard-baked." 

Chastity,  to  which  references  will  be  found  in 
ensuing  chapters,  has  been  universally  regarded  as 
an  essential  necessity  for  a  good  woman,  for  as  a 
popular  proverb,  current  under  a  variety  of  forms 
in  most  countries,  enjoins,  "  An  immodest  woman 
is  food  without  salt ; "  and  a  Chinese  maxim 
tells  us  that  "  modesty  is  a  woman's  courage  ;  " 
whereas  Tacitus  wrote  in  his  day,  "  When  a 
woman  has  lost  her  character,  she  will  shrink 
from  no  crime."  And,  where  this  trait  of 
character  is  wanting,  the  consensus  of  opinion 
seems  to  be  that  no  amount  of  care,  or  foresight, 
will  prevent  a  woman  going  astray  ;  for  a  Kural 
saying,  too,  teaches  much  the  same  lesson — 

"  Of  what  avail  are  prisons  barred, 
Their  chastity  is  women's  guard." 

And  a  Malay  proverb  emphasises  the  tenacity  of 


1 2  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

a    woman's    purpose,    whether    that    be    good    or 
bad— 


"A  whole  herd  of  buffaloes  might  be  shut  up  in  a  pen, 
There  is  one  thing  not  to  be  guarded — a  woman." 

Much  to  the  same  effect  is  the  Eastern  proverb, 
"  Women,  if  confined  at  home  by  faithful 
guardians,  are  not  really  guarded  ;  but  those 
women  who  guard  themselves  by  their  own 
will,  are  well  guarded/'  to  which  may  be 
added  the  German  adages  :'  "A  sackful  of 
fleas  is  easier  to  watch  than  a  woman,"  and 
"  A  woman  and  a  glass  are  always  in  danger;" 
whilst  the  old  English  proverbial  phrase,  "  She 
will  stay  at  home,  perhaps,  if  her  leg  be  broken," 
implies  that  nothing  but  what  happens  through 
compulsion  will  keep  many  a  woman  at  home. 
Indeed,  it  has  always  been  held  that  there  is 
no  compensation  for  the  lack  of  chastity  in  a 
woman,  an  old  Tamil  maxim  declaring  that 
"  beauty  without  chastity  is  a  flower  without 
fragrance."  ■ 

On  the  other  hand,  an  Arabic  proverb  says 
that  "  The  modest  woman's  walk  lasts  from 
morning  till  evening,"  which  has  been  thus  ex- 
plained, "  The  modest  woman  rarely  goes  out, 
or  meets  any  one,  and,  when  she  does  get  the 
opportunity  to  go  out,  she  is  as  delighted 
with  the  various  sights  as  if  she  were  a  stranger, 
and  she  spends  a  long  time  in  looking  at 
them,  and  in  chatting  with  those  of  her  intimate 
friends    whom    she    meets,    so    that    the     length 


Woman  s  Characteristics 


of  her  absence  from  the  house  has  become  pro- 
verbial." i 

Lastly,  due  consideration  for  the  frailty  of 
woman  is  extensively  enjoined  in  proverbial  lore, 
a  Tamil  adage  telling  us  that  "  though  you  see  a 
woman  sin  with  your  own  eyes,  cover  it  over  with 
earth,"  for,  it  adds,  "if  she  says,  I  am  a  woman, 
even  the  devil  will  have  compassion  on  her;  "  and 
hence  a  person  is  sternly  warned  "  not  to  dare  to 
stand  on  the  earth  when  passing  unjust  remarks  on 
a  woman."  A  German  proverb  says,  "  Frailty, 
thy  name  is  woman,"  which  is  to  the  same  effect  as 
the  Eastern  aphorism,  "  Women,  like  flowers,  are 
of  tender  fabric,  and  should  be  softly  handled  ;  " 
which  coincides  with  the  Indian  maxim,  "  Do  not 
strike,  even  with  a  flower,  a  woman  guilty  of  a 
hundred  crimes,"  and  with  the  Hindustani  proverb, 
"It  is  not  right  to  lift  one's  hand  to  a  woman." 

At  the  same  time,  our  forefathers  were  strongly 
of  opinion  that  a  certain  amount  of  correc- 
tion was  good  for  women,  an  opinion  to  which 
we  have  referred  in  our  chapter  on  "  Woman's 
Goodness,"  where  we  have  given  some  of  the  pro- 
verbial wisdom  on  the  subject.  Among  Oriental 
proverbs  too  much  leniency  is  deprecated,  it  being 
said  that  "  the  petted  boy  becomes  a  gambler, 
and  the  petted  girl  a  wanton,"  which  is  similar  to 
the  Marathi  maxim,  "  By  the  mother's  petting  the 
child  becomes  an  idiot  ;  "  and  to  our  own  proverbs 
"  A  child  may  have  too  much  of  his  mother's 
blessing,"  and  "  Mothers'  darlings  make  but  milk- 

1  See  J.  R.  Jewett's  "Arabic  Proverbs,"  American  Oriental 
Society,  1891,  vol.  xv. 


14  Folk- Lore  of  Women 


sop  heroes ;  "  for,  says  Ray,  "  Mothers  are  often- 
times too  tender  and  fond  of  their  children,  who 
are  ruined  and  spoiled  by  their  indulgence."  In 
Hindustani  lore  we  find  the  same  idea  expressed, 
a  familiar  adage  maintaining  that,  "  Melons  re- 
quire the  sun,  and  mangoes  want  the  sun ;  women 
need  a  strong  hand,  and  children  want  love/' 
The  reason  for  this  would  seem  to  be  that  a 
woman  does  not  always  know  what  is  best  for 
her,  hence  the  Welsh  adage  : — 

"  A  woman  mostly  will  prerer 
The  thing  that  is  the  worst  for  her." 

And  hence,  as  the  Italians  say,  u  Women,  apes, 
and  nuts  require  strong  hands."  There  is  an 
African  proverb  which  says  that  "  a  man  is  not 
obeyed  by  his  wife  in  his  own  house,"  which,  we 
are  told,  implies  that  she  does  not  consider  him  her 
husband  "  unless  he  beat  her,  thwack  " — a  mode  of 
treatment  which,  it  is  needless  to  say,  would  not 
be  endured  by  the  wives  of  the  West.1 

1   See  W.  E.  Taylor's  "African  Aphorisms,"  1891. 


CHAPTER   II 


WOMAN     S      BEAUTY 


"  She's  beautiful  and  therefore  to  be  wooed ; 
She  is  a  woman,  therefore  to  be  won." 

i st  Henry  VI.  act  v.  sc.  3. 

A  BEAUTIFUL  woman,"  remarked  Napo- 
leon, "  pleases  the  eye,  a  good  woman 
pleases  the  heart  ;  ■  one  is  a  jewel,  the  other  a 
treasure."  It  is  not  surprising  that  the  beauty 
of  woman- — in  praise  of  which  both  literature 
and  art  have  from  the  earliest  period  lavished 
some  of  their  grandest  works — should  have  given 
rise  in  most  countries  to  a  host  of  strange  and 
romantic  fancies.  Many  of  these  survive  in  our 
midst  to-day,  and,  although  experience  has  long 
proved  how  unreliable  such  beliefs  are,  they  still 
retain  their  hold  on  the  popular  mind,  often 
causing   unnecessary  prejudice  and   fear. 

It  is  a  very  old  notion,  for  instance,  that  beauty 
is  unfortunate  ;  and,  according  to  an  old  Italian 
proverb,  "  Over  the  greatest  beauty  hangs  the 
greatest  ruin."     Allusions  to  this  piece  of  folk- 


1 6  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

lore  are  not  only  found  in  the  poetry  and  romance 
of  bygone  centuries,  but  are  of  frequent  occurrence 
in  the  literature  of  modern  times.  Thus  Goethe 
makes  Helena  affirm  that  "  beauty  and  happiness 
remain  not  long  united  ; "  and  Byron,  in  his 
"  Childe  Harold  "  (iv.  42),  speaks  of  "  the  fatal 
gift  of  beauty."  We  may  recall,  too,  Lord 
Tennyson's  charming  and  pathetic  language  in 
"  A  Dream  of  Fair  Women,"  where  he  relates 
how — 

"  In  every  land 

I  saw,  wherever  light  illumineth, 
Beauty  and  anguish  walking  hand  in  hand 

The  downward  slope  to  death. 

Those  far-renowned  brides  of  ancient  song 
Peopled  the  hollow  dark,  like  burning  stars, 

And  I  heard  sounds  of  insult,  shame,  and  wrong, 
And  trumpets  blown  for  wars." 

And  there  is  a  well-known  passage  where  Fielding, 
in  his  "  Journey  from  this  World  to  the  Next," 
(chap,  vi.),  thus  writes:  "She  —  Fortune  —  was 
one  of  the  most  deformed  females  I  ever  beheld, 
nor  could  I  help  observing  the  frowns  she  ex- 
pressed when  any  beautiful  spirit  of  her  own  sex 
passed  her,  nor  the  affability  that  smiled  on  her 
countenance  on  the  approach  of  any  handsome 
male  spirits.  Hence  I  accounted  for  the  truth 
of  an  observation  I  had  often  made  on  earth, 
that  nothing  is  more  fortunate  than  handsome 
men,  nor  more  unfortunate  than  handsome 
women  ;  "  such,  too,  was  the  opinion  of  the 
host  of  the  "  Canterbury  Tales  "   who   bewailed 


Woman  s  Beauty  17 

the  sad  fate  of  Virginia  related  by  the  Doctor 
of  Physic  : — 

"  Alias  !   too  deare  boughte  sshe  her  beaute, 
Wherefore  I  say,  that  alle  men  may  se, 
That  giftes  of  fortune,  or  of  nature, 
Ben  cause  of  deth  of  many  a  creature. 
Her  beaute  was  hir  deth,  I  dar  well  sayn, 
Alias  !  so  piteously  as  she  was  slayn."  * 

And  there  is  the  old  mythical  tale  which  tells  how 
Medusa  was  a  maiden  of  such  beauty  as  to  provoke 
the  jealousy  of  Minerva,  wherefore  she  was  trans- 
formed into  a  frightful  monster.  Her  much- 
admired  ringlets  became  hissing  serpents,  and  no 
living  thing  could  look  upon  her  without  being 
turned  into  stone.  Legendary  lore  provides  us 
with  many  stories  of  this  kind,  which  illustrates 
Patterson's  well-known  lines  : — 

"  O  fatal  beauty  !  why  art  thou  bestowed 
On  hapless  woman  still  to  make  her  wretched  ? 
Betrayed  by  thee,  how  many  are  undone  !  " 

Chinese  folk-lore  maintains  that  beautiful  women 
are  unlucky,  one  of  their  many  proverbs  on  the 
subject  declaring  that  "  fair  maidens  are  very  un- 
lucky, and  clever  young  men  have  little  beauty. " 
It  was  also  supposed  that  feminine  beauty  of 
unusual  merit  was  fatal  to  long  life,  and  no  sub- 
ject has  been  more  popular  with  the  novelist,  or 
poet,  than  the  gradual  fading  away  of  some  young 
girl    gifted    in   a    high    degree  with  good  looks. 

1  L.  1378.— Ed.  Wright. 

--» 
o 


1 8  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

Lord  Tennyson,  in  his  "  May  Queen,"  has  inter- 
woven this  idea,  and  it  is  found  scattered  here  and 
there  in  the  literature  of  most  countries.  Hence, 
another  reason  why  beauty  has  been  regarded  as 
unfortunate  is  owing  to  its  being  thought  pre- 
judicial to  health,  a  variation  of  which  belief  occurs 
in  "  Richard  III."  (act  iii.  sc.  i),  where  the  Duke 
of  Gloucester  says  : — 

"So  wise,  so  young,  they  say  do  never  live  long." 

Another  misfortune  connected  with  beauty  is  its 
evanescence,  and,  as  the  German  proverbs  run, 
"  Woman's  beauty,  the  forest  echo  and  rainbows, 
soon  pass  away,"  and  "  Maidens  and  roses  soon 
lose  their  bloom."  And  the  same  truth  is  con- 
veyed in  the  Hindustani  proverb,  "  The  spring  in 
which  he  saw  the  blossoms  is  gone,  now,  O  bee, 
only  the  thorns  remain  on  the  rose  ;  "  another 
version  of  which  is,  "  My  fair  one  don't  be  proud 
of  your  complexion,  it  is  the  guest  of  but  a  few 
days."  Poets  have  largely  dwelt  on  beauty's 
transient  character,  and  Shakespeare,  in  "  The 
Passionate  Pilgrim,"  says  : — 

"  Beauty  is  but  a  vain  and  doubtful  good  ; 
A  shining  gloss  that  vadeth  suddenly  ; 
A  flower  that  dies  when  first  it  'gins  to  bud, 
A  brittle  glass  that's  broken  presently, 
A  doubtful  good,  a  gloss,  a  glass,  a  flower, 
Lost,  vaded,  broken,  dead  within  an  hour." 

And  the  oft-quoted  adage  that  "  Beauty  is  like 
an    almanac  ;    if  it    last    a    year   it   is  well,"  re- 


Woman's  Beauty 


minds  us  of  Moliere's  lines  in  his  "  Les  Femmes 
Savantes  "  : — 

"  La  beaute  du  visage  est  un  frele  ornement, 
Une  rleur  passagere,  un  eclat  d'un  moment, 
Et  qui  n'est  attache  qu'  a  la  simple  epiderne." 

The  snares  of  beauty  have  been  made  from  early 
times  the  subject  of  much  preverbial  wisdom,  a 
Servian  adage  affirming  that,  "  Better  sometimes  a 
woman  blind  than  one  too  beautiful ;  "  for,  as  the 
Italian  proverb  adds,  "  Tell  a  woman  that  she  is 
beautiful,  and  the  devil  will  repeat  it  to  her  ten 
times ;"  with  which  may  be  compared  an  old  Welsh 
proverb,  which  has  been  translated  thus  : — 

"  Three  things  may  make  a  woman  nought, 
A  giddy  brain, 
A  heart  that's  vain, 
A  face  in  beauty's  fashion  wrought  ;" 

and  the  German  proverb  adds,  "  An  impudent  face 
never  marries.''  There  is,  too,  the  old  English 
adage,  "  The  fairest  silk  is  soon  stained  ;  "  for,  as 
Ray  has  said,  "  The  handsomest  women  are  soonest 
corrupted,  because  they  are  most  tempted. " 

Although  we  cannot  endorse  the  old  German 
proverb  which  says  that,  "  Every  woman  would 
be  rather  pretty  than  pious,"  yet  most  women  are 
mightily  proud  of  their  beauty,  for,  as  an  early 
English  maxim  reminds  us,  "She  that  is  born  a 
beauty  is  born  married  ;  "  another  version  of 
which  we  find  in  an  old  work  entitled,  "  New  Help 
to  Discourse"  (172 1,  p.  134),  "  Beauty  draws  more 
than  five  yoke  of  oxen  ; "    with  which  we  may 


20  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

compare  Pope's  lines  in  "  The  Rape  of  the 
Lock  "  (Canto  ii.)  : — 

"  Fair  tresses  man's  imperial  race  insnare, 
And  beauty  draws  us  with  a  single  hair." 

The  same  idea  occurs  in  French  proverbial  lore, 
but  it  is  thus  qualified  : — 

"  Amour  fait  beaucoup 
Mais  argent  fait  tout  ; " 

and  according  to  German  proverbial  lore,  "  Beauty 
is  a  good  letter  of  introduction/'  and,  "  Good 
looks  are  an  inheritance,"  and  again,  "  A  pretty 
face  is  a  good  drummer ;"  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
it  is  said,  "  A  poor  beauty  finds  more  lovers  than 
husbands." 

It  is  not  surprising  that  in  all  ages  women 
have  striven  to  preserve  their  beauty,  how- 
ever transient  it  may  be,  for,  as  it  has  been  re- 
marked, "it  is  valueless  to  a  woman  to  be  young 
unless  pretty,  or  to  be  pretty  unless  young;  "  and 
an  amusing  story  is  told  of  an  old  queen  who, 
day  after  day,  sighed  with  longing  regret  that 
her  beauty  had  vanished,  and  that  her  young 
days  were  gone.  In  this  sad  dilemma  she  was 
advised  to  try  some  magic  restorative  to  bring 
back  the  rosy  blush  of  youth,  and  accordingly — 

"  Of  rosmayr  she  took  six  pounde, 
And  grounde  it  well  into  a  stownde," 

and  then  she  mixed  with  it  water,  in  which  she 
bathed  three  times  a  day,  taking  care  to  anoint  her 
head  with  "gode  balme  afterwards."  In  a  few 
days   her   old    withered    face    fell   away,  and   she 


Woman  s  Beauty  21 

became   so  young  and  pretty   that  she  began  to 
look  out  for  a  husband. 

But,  unfortunately,  stones  of  this  class  belong 
to  the  domain  of  fairyland,  or,  otherwise,  old  age 
would  have  a  bad  time  of  it,  for  every  woman 
would  remain  young  if  not  beautiful.  At  any 
rate,  there  is  no  disguising  the  fact  that  the 
human  brain  has  done  its  very  best  to  accom- 
modate the  fair  sex  with  the  charm  of  juvenescence, 
judging  from  the  rules  laid  down  for  this  purpose  ; 
a  popular  folk-rhyme  advising  us  thus  : — 

"Those  who  wish  to  be  fair  and  stout, 
Must  wash  their  faces  with  the  disclout  ; 
Those  who  wish  to  be  wrinkled  and  grey, 
Must  keep  the  disclout  far  away." 

The  common  wayside  flower,  the  lady's  mantle, 
was  once  in  great  repute  with  ladies  ;  for,  accord- 
ing to  Hoffman,  it  had  the  power  of  "  restoring 
feminine  beauty,  however  faded,  to  its  early 
freshness  ;  "  and  the  wild  tansy,  laid  to  soak  in 
buttermilk  for  'nine  days,  had  the  reputation  of 
"  making  the  complexion  very  fair."  The  haw- 
thorn, again,  was  in  high  repute  among  the  fair 
sex,  for  according  to  an  old  piece  of  proverbial 
lore  : — 

"  The  fair  maid  who,  the  first  of  May, 
Goes  to  the  fields  at  break  of  day, 
And  washes  in  dew  from  the  hawthorn-tree, 
Will  ever  after  handsome  be  "  ; 

and    the    common    fumitory     '^was    used    when 
gathered   in  wedding  hours  and  boiled   in  water, 


22  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

milk,  and  whey,  as  a  wash  for  the  complexion  of 
rustic  maids."  l 

Various  allusions  to  these  old  recipes  occur  in 
the  literature  of  the  past,  and  we  find  the  Earl  of 
Shrewsbury — who  had  charge  of  the  unfortunate 
Mary  Queen  of  Scots — making  an  application  for 
an  increased  allowance  on  account  of  her  expensive 
habit  of  bathing  in  wine.  Those  who  could  not 
afford  such  an  extravagant  luxury  contented  them- 
selves with  milk-baths,  which  were  all  the  fashion 
in  the  reign  of  Charles  II. 

Great  importance,  too,  has  long  been  attached 
to  what  is  popularly  nicknamed  "  Beauty  Sleep," 
it  being  supposed  that  the  two  hours'  sleep  before 
midnight  are  worth  all  that  comes  after  it,  and 
are  far  more  instrumental  in  keeping  off  wrinkles 
than  all  the  cosmetics  and  expedients  to  which  we 
have  just  referred,  the  faintest  indication  of  which  is 
a  killing  blow  to  womankind.  Hence  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that,  in  the  words  of  a  Portuguese  proverb, 
the  marriageable  young  lady  cries  in  despair, "  marry 
me,  mother,  for  my  face  is  growing  wrinkled." 
The  explanation  given  by  Ray  of  the  value  of  the 
so-called  beauty-sleep  is  amusing :  "  For  the  sun 
being  the  light  of  this  sublunary  world,  whose  heat 
causes  the  motion  of  all  terrestrial  animals,  when 
he  is  farthest  off,  that  is  about  midnight,  the 
spirits  of  themselves  are  aptest  to  rest  and  compose, 
so  that  the  middle  of  the  night  must  needs  be  the 
most  proper  time  to  sleep  in,  especially  if  we  con- 
sider the  greater  expense  of  spirits  in  the  daytime, 
partly  by  the  heat  of  the  afternoon,  and  partly  by 
1  Black's  "Folk  Medicine,"  p.  201. 


Woman  s  Beauty  2$ 

labour,  and  the  constant  exercise  of  all  the  senses ; 
whereof  then  to  wake  is  put  the  spirits  in  motion, 
when  there  are  fewest  of  them,  and  they  naturally 
most  sluggish  and  unfit  for  it." 

But  it  is  generally  acknowledged  that  the 
attempt  to  cheat  time  of  his  wrinkles  has  nearly 
always  proved  fruitless,  and  only  too  frequently 
"  the  would-be  fair  ones  have  been  driven  in 
despair  to  conceal  what  they  found  it  impossible 
to  remove,  and  hence  the  feminine  fashion  of 
bedaubing  the  complexion  with  artificial  tints,  a 
custom  which  it  may  be  remembered  was  almost 
universal  among  Grecian  women." 

On  the  other  hand,  however  much  fortune  may 
be  reputed  to  be  hostile  to  beauty,  good  looks  have 
been  termed  "  a  woman's  glory,"  and  Galen  perhaps 
was  not  far  wrong  in  maintaining  that  one  reason 
why  misfortune  is  so  often  connected  with  beauty 
is  that  "  many  who  have  been  distinguished  for 
their  loveliness  have  neglected  the  education  of 
their  mind,"  for,  as  the  German  proverbs  say, 
"  Beauty  and  understanding  go  rarely  together  ;  " 
"  Beauty  is  but  dross  if  honesty  be  lost,"  and  there 
is  the  Tamil  adage,  "  Beauty  in  the  unworthy  is 
poison  in  a  casket  of  gold."  Some,  like  Ralph 
Nickleby,  may  disparage  a  woman's  beauty,  but,  as 
it  has  been  remarked,  one  reason  why  beauty  has 
been  coveted  by  most  women  is  partly  owing  to 
the  early  belief  that  a  lovely  face  was  the  outward 
indication  that  a  person  so  adorned  was  gifted 
with  an  equally  beautiful  soul  within.  It  was  long 
and  extensively  believed  that  a  lofty  soul  could 
not  dwell  in  an  ugly  casket,  and  hence  a  beautiful 


24  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

woman  was  commonly  credited  with  having  a  fine 
and  noble  character,  a  notion  which  in  only  too 
many  instances  history  alone  has  refuted,  for,  as 
an  old  proverb  says,  "  Beauty  may  have  fair  leaves, 
but  little  fruit."  This  once  popular  belief,  how- 
ever, was  a  favourite  one  with  the  poets,  and  is 
referred  to  in  the  "  Tempest,"  (act  i.  sc.  2)  : — 

"  There's  nothing  ill  can  dwell  in  such  a  temple  : 
If  the  ill  Spirit  have  so  fair  a  house, 
Good  things  will  strive  to  dwell  with't." 

And  Young  alludes  to  the  same  idea  in  these  well- 
known  lines  : — 

"What's  female  beauty,  but  an  air  divine, 
Through  which  the  mind's  all  gentle  graces  shine  ? 
They,  like  the  sun,  irradiate  all  between, 
The  body  charms,  because  the  soul  is  seen, 
Hence  men  are  often  captives  of  a  face 
They  know  not  why,  of  no  peculiar  grace. 
Some  forms,  though  bright,  no  mortal  man  can  bear, 
Some,  none  resist,  though  not  exceeding  fair." 

Moralists  and  others  have  largely  dwelt  on  this 
familiar  idea,  and,  in  one  form  or  another,  it  has 
prevailed  in  most  countries,  and  has  been  incor- 
porated in  many  a  legendary  romance  ;  an  item 
of  folk-lore  which  Sir  A.  de  Vere  Hunt  has  thus 
prettily  expressed  : — 

"  What  is  beauty  ?  not  the  show 
Of  shapely  limbs  and  features — no  ! 
These  are  but  flowers 
That  have  their  dated  hours 
To  breathe  their  momentary  sweets,  then  go. 
'Tis  the  stainless  soul  within, 
That  outshines  the  fairest  skin." 


Woman  s  Beauty 


25 


There  would  appear,  however,  to  be  an  exception 
to  this  rule,  for  German  folk-wisdom  tells  us  that 
"  A  fair  skin  often  covers  a  crooked  mind,,,  and 
"  A  fair  face  may  hide  a  foul  heart,"  which  reminds 
us  of  the  whited  sepulchres  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment ;  and  it  is  further  said  in  Germany  that 
"  Falseness  often  lurks  beneath  fair  hair,"  and  there 
is  the  Spanish  proverb,  "  A  handsome  woman  is 
either  silly  or  vain." 

But  notions  of  beauty  fortunately  differ,  and, 
according  to  a  popular  adage,  "  What  is  one  man's 
meat  is  another  man's  poison  ;  "  and,  whatever 
truth  there  may  be  in  the  proverb  which  reminds 
us  that  "  Beauty  is  but  skin  deep,"  there  is  no 
denying  that  personal  appearance  has  made  all  the 
difference  in  the  estimation  formed  by  one  person 
of  another.  According  to  an  old  folk-rhyme  we 
are  told  that  : — 

"  A  fair  face  is  half  a  portion, 
A  fair  face  may  be  a  foul  bargain, 
A  fair  face  may  hide  a  foul  heart, 
A  fair  field  and  no  favour." 


The  power  of  woman's  beauty  over  man,  how- 
ever, has  always  been  proverbial  all  over  the  world, 
and,  from  the  earliest  period,  it  has  formed  one  of 
the  leading  subjects  of  the  wise-saws  current  in 
most  countries.  Thus  a  popular  German  maxim 
tells  us  that  "  one  hair  of  a  woman  draws  more 
than  a  bell-rope,"  or,  as  another  version  has  it, 
u  Beauty  draws  us  with  a  single  hair  ;  "  and  there 
is  a  common  saying  in  the  East,  "  A  good-look- 
ing woman  in  a  house  is  the  foe  of  all  the  plain 


26  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

ones/'  At  the  same  time  there  have  never  been 
wanting  moralists  to  warn  us  that,  however  power- 
ful the  fascinatory  influence  of  woman's  beauty 
may  be,  it  is  far  from  being  always  supreme. 
Accordingly  there  are  a  number  of  proverbs  which 
affirm  that,  whereas  "  beauty  is  potent,  money  is 
omnipotent,"  with  which  may  be  compared  the 
oft-quoted  saying  to  the  effect  that,  "  Beauties 
without  fortunes  have  sweethearts  plenty  ;  but 
husbands  none  at  all ;"  or,  as  it  is  sometimes  said, 
"  Beauty  without  bounty  avails  nought."  Often- 
times those  proverbs,  which  admit  the  fascina- 
tory charms  of  a  woman's  beauty,  qualify  their 
statements  with  a  warning,  as  in  the  German 
proverb,  "  Beauty  is  the  eye's  food,  and  the  soul's 
sorrow  ;  "  an  old  English  maxim  is  to  the  same 
effect  :  "  A  beautiful  woman  is  the  paradox  of  the 
eyes,  the  hell  of  the  soul,  and  the  purgatory  of  the 
purse  ;  "  and  again,  "  Wickedness  with  beauty  is 
the  devil's  hook  baited;"  the  same  idea  being  found 
in  Hindustani  proverbial  wisdom,  in  which  we  find 
this  maxim  :  "  All  pretty  maids  are  poisonous 
pests  ;  an  enemy  kills  by  hiding  these  by  smiles 
and  jests."  It  is  said  in  Italy  that  "  a  beautiful 
woman  smiling  bespeaks  a  purse-weeping,"  with 
which  may  be  compared  the  German  adage  : — 

"  Hares  arc  caught  with  hounds, 
Fools  with  praises, 
Women  with  gold." 

Indeed,  in  most  countries  there  are  numerous  pro- 
verbs to  the  same  effect,  demonstrating  how  one 
of  the   penalties — one  which  oftentimes  is  man's 


Woman  s  Beauty 


27 


ruin — paid  for  woman's  beauty  is  an  empty  purse. 
Similarly,  we  are  told  that  "  a  handsome  hostess 
is  bad  for  the  purse  ;  "  and  hence  there  is  some 
truth  in  the  following  :  "  A  rich  man  is  never 
ugly  in  the  eyes  of  a  girl." 

Proverb-making  cynics,  again,  have  not  always 
been  very  chivalrous  and  complimentary  in  their 
allusions  to  the  charms  of  the  fair  sex.  Thus,  as 
beautiful  women  had  the  reputation  of  being  less 
handy  and  serviceable  than  plain  ones,  the  adage 
arose  which  says — "  A  fair  woman  and  a  slashed 
gown  will  always  find  some  nail  in  the  way  ;  "  in 
other  words,  as  women  value  themselves  on  their 
personal  attractions,  they  are  in  the  same  degree 
generally  apt  to  be  negligent  in  other  things. 
According  to  another  version  of  the  same  proverb, 
it  is  very  commonly  said  that  "  the  more  women 
look  in  their  glasses  the  less  they  look  to  their 
houses."  Cynical  sayings,  happily,  of  this  kind, 
as  far  as  beauty  is  concerned,  are  in  the  minority  ; 
for,  in  most  legendary  and  historical  lore,  good 
features  have  been  made  characteristic  of  nearly 
all  superior  and  exalted  beings.  Hence,  at  the 
present  day,  beauty  is  often  said  to  be  ".fairylike," 
it  having  been  a  popular  belief  that  beauty,  united 
with  power,  was  one  of  the  most  attractive  forms 
of  the  fairy  tribe.  Such  was  that  of  Spenser's 
Fairy  Queen,  and  of  Shakespeare's  Titania  ;  and 
it  may  be  remembered  how,  in  "  Antony  and 
Cleopatra"  (act  iv.  sc.  8),  Antony,  on  seeing 
Cleopatra  enter,  says  to  Scarus  : — 

"To  this  great  fairy  I'll  commend  thy  acts, 
Make  her  thanks  bless  thee." 


28  Folk-Lore  of  Women 

And  in  "  Cymbeline  "  (act  iii.  sc.  6),  when  the 
two  brothers  find  Imogen  in  their  cave,  Belarius 
exclaims  : — 

"But  that  it  eats  our  victuals,  I  should  think 
Here  were  a  fairy," 

and  he  then  adds  : — 

"  By  Jupiter,  an  angel  !   or,  if  not, 
An  earthly  paragon  !     Behold  divineness, 
No  elder  than  a  boy." 

Beauty,  too,  which  Plato  described  as  "  a  privi- 
lege of  Nature  ;  "  Homer,  "  a  glorious  gift  of 
Nature  ; "  Ovid,  "  a  favour  bestowed  by  the 
Gods ;  "  and  Shakespeare,  "  that  miracle  and 
queen  of  gems,"  has  formed  the  theme  of  most 
of  those  traditionary  tales  of  love  and  romance 
which,  embodied  in  the  folk-tales  of  different 
countries,  portray  the  many  beliefs  and  fancies 
which,  in  the  course  of  centuries,  have  grouped 
round  this  acknowledged  charm  of  womanhood. 
The  absence  of  beauty,  on  the  other  hand,  was, 
in  days  of  old,  considered  almost  a  disgrace,  it 
having  been  a  common  idea  that  the  ugliness  of 
the  wicked  was  in  proportion  to  their  evil  nature. 
Hence,  an  unprepossessing  appearance  subjected 
the  unfortunate  woman  to  the  most  uncompli- 
mentary stigma,  and  oftentimes  even  made  her  an 
object  of  contempt ;  for,  according  to  an  old 
proverb,  "  An  ugly  woman  is  a  disease  of  the 
stomach,  a  handsome  woman  a  disease  of  the 
head."     And  there  is  the  Hebrew  adage,  "  Ugli- 


Woman  s  Beauty  29 

ness  is  the  guardian  of  women,"  for  the  chance  is 
remote  of  those  who  are  not  gifted  with  beauty 
yielding  to  the  snares  of  temptation.  But  even 
ugliness  occasionally  outweighs  the  advantages 
of  beauty,  for  the  German  mother  reminds  her 
daughter  that  "  a  virtuous  woman,  though  ugly, 
is  the  ornament  of  her  house  ;  "  and  there  is  the 
Spanish 'adage,  which  says,  "  the  ugliest  is  the  best 
housewife  ;  "  and  our  own  proverb  runs  :  "She's 
better  than  she's  bonnie  ;  "  although  a  Tamil  pro- 
verb, referring  ironically  to  an  ugly  woman,  speaks 
of  her  as  "  killed  with  beauty  ;  "  and  a  Welsh  adage 
tells  us  that  if  an  ugly  woman  fall,  breaking  her 
hip,  the  pity  she  gets  is,  "  how  clumsy  to  trip." 
It  has,  however,  been  generally  acknowledged  that 
there  is  no  woman  who  is  not,  more  or  less,  fond 
of  flattery,  and  there  is  a  common  saying  in  Spain, 
"  Tell  a  woman  she  is  pretty  and  you  will  turn  her 
head,"  a  piece  of  proverbial  lore  which  is  found  in 
France  and  Germany,  and  also  in  our  own  country. 
But,  after  all,  there  is  one  point  to  be  remembered, 
for  a  popular  German  adage  says  that  "  handsome 
women  generally  fall  to  the  lot  of  ugly  men." 
There  is  truth,  also,  in  the  Sindhi  adage,  which 
says,  "Better  a  blind  eye  than  a  blind  fate,"  which 
means,  better  be  ugly  than  unfortunate,  as  many 
favoured  with  beauty  are  supposed  to  be ;  for,  after 
all,  as  the  proverb  truly  remarks,  "  a  good  fame  is 
better  than  a  good  face."  It  is  recorded  that 
Madame  de  Bourignon  was  so  ugly  when  born  that 
the  proposal  was  actually  made  of  smothering  her, 
so  as  to  spare  her  a  life  of  ridicule  and  humiliation  ; 
and,  to  quote  a  further  illustration,  a  story  is  told 


^ 


30  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

of  the  Emperor  Henry  IV.,  of  Germany,  who,  on 
entering  a  church,  where  an  ugly  priest  happened 
to  be  officiating,  wondered  in  his  mind  whether  it 
was  possible  for  God  to  accept  services  rendered 
by  so  ill-favoured  a  ministrant.  But  the  imperial 
ministrations  were  interrupted  by  the  priest's  boy 
mumbling,  almost  unintelligibly,  the  versicle  :  "  It 
is  He  that  hath  made  us,  not  we  ourselves,' ' 
whereupon  the  priest  removed  him  for  his  indis- 
tinct enunciation,  and  he  repeated  the  Psalmist's 
words,  which  the  Emperor  took  as  an  undesigned 
rebuke  to  his  own  thoughts. 

Queen  Elizabeth,  similarly,  was  careful  to  admit 
into  her  household  none  but  those  of  "  stature  and 
birth  ;  "  and  one  day,  it  is  recorded,  she  went  so 
far  as  to  refuse  the  services  of  a  certain  individual 
for  no  other  reason  than  that  one  of  his  jaws  was 
deficient  of  a  tooth  !  But  there  was  Tamerlane's 
wife,  who,  although  she  had  no  nose,  was  con- 
sidered a  belle  by  her  contemporaries  ;  and  even 
hunchbacks  have  had  their  admirers  on  the  ground 
that  the  "  dorsal  curvature  is  the  true  line  of 
beauty." 

It  has,  after  all,  however,  been  generally 
admitted  that  beauty  is,  more  or  less,  deceptive, 
and  especially  where  love  is  concerned,  for,  as  the 
popular  adage  says  :  "  If  Jack  is  in  love,  he  is  no 
judge  of  Jill's  beauty,"  which  corresponds  with  the 
Italian  saying,  "  Handsome  is  not  what  is  hand- 
some, but  what  pleases."  Similarly,  the  French 
have  a  familiar  proverb,  "  Never  seemed  a  prison 
fair,  nor  a  mistress  foul,"  which  has  its  counter- 
part in  Germany,  where  it  is  said,  "  he  whose  fair 


Woman  s  Beauty  31 

one  squints  says  she  ogles  ;  "  and  "  Everybody 
thinks  his  own  cuckoo  sings  better  than  another's 
nightingale  ;  "  with  which  we  may  compare  what 
the  African  negro  says,  "  The  beetle  is  a  beauty  in 
the  eyes  of  its  mother  " — love  transforming  all 
imperfections  into  beauty.  But,  as  an  Eastern 
piece  of  proverbial  wisdom  reminds  us — 

"  For  virtue  a  woman  our  wife  we  make  ; 
For  her  beauty  we  a  concubine  take," 

with  which  may  be  compared  another  Eastern 
adage  : — 

"  Long  not  for  the  Goddess's  beauty  divine, 
Long  that  the  star  of  your  husband  may  shine." 

The  fact  that  love  has  a  large  mantle  to  hide  faults 
is  further  shown  in  an  Arab  proverb  :  "  Love  is 
the  companion  of  blindness  ;  "  and  the  Talmud 
emphasises  the  same  truth  :  "  To  love  a  thing 
makes  the  eye  blind,  the  ear  deaf;"  and  a  Hindu- 
stani proverb  runs  thus:  "  Fall  in  love  with  an 
ogress,  and  even  she  is  a  fairy,"  with  which  may 
be  compared  another  not  very  complimentary  one, 
"  Her  name  is  Beauty,  and  a  dog's  her  face."  It 
is  interesting  to  find  the  same  idea  in  Assamese 
folk-lore,  wherein  occurs  the  following  :  ',*  What 
shall  I  say  of  my  step-mother's  character — in  one 
hand  she  has  chutney  and  in  the  other  salt ;  she 
has  no  hair  in  the  middle  of  her  head,  but  her 
husband  calls  her  the  beautiful  one  ?  "  And  much 
the  same  idea  is  conveyed  in  the  Hindustani 
piece  of  proverbial  wisdom  :   "  She  cries  over  her 


32  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

own  idiot,  but  laugh's  at  another's  ;  "  and  the 
Dutch  have  a  saying,  "  No  ape  but  swears  he  has 
the  handsomest  children." 

Indeed,  that  in  a  lover's  eyes,  plainness  often- 
times becomes  actual  beauty,  is  exemplified  over 
and  over  again  in  the  literature  of  past  and  modern 
days,  for,  in  "  A  Midsummer  Night's  Dream " 
(act  v.  sc.  i) — 

"  The  lover,  all  as  frantic, 
Sees  Helen's  beauty  in  a  brow  of  Egypt." 

Lord  Lytton,  in  "  Kenelm  Chillingly,"  has  intro- 
duced the  charming  song,  "  The  Beauty  of  the 
Mistress  is  in  the  Lover's  Eye,"  which  runs 
thus : — 

"  Is  she  not  pretty,  my  Mabel  May  ? 
.  Nobody  ever  yet  called  her  so. 

Are  not  her  lineaments  faultless,  say : 
If  I  must  answer  you  plainly — No. 

Joy  to  believe  that  the  maid  I  love 
None  but  myself  as  she  is  can  see  ; 

Joy  that  she  steals  from  her  heaven  above, 
And  is  only  revealed  on  this  earth  to  me." 

The  same  idea  is  introduced  in  Mrs.  Browning's 
"  My  Kate  ; "  and  Balzac,  too,  was  of  the  same 
opinion,  for  he  says,  "  When  women  love,  they 
forgive  us  everything,  even  our  crimes ;  when  they 
do  not  love  us,  they  give  us  credit  for  nothing,  not 
even  for  our  virtues."  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
there  is  equal  truth  in  the  Welsh  proverb,  which  is 
only  too  frequently  proved  in  the  romance  of  daily 
life,  u  Faults  are  thick  when  love  is  thin."  l 

1  See  Notes  and  Queries,  8th  S.  ii.  4.77. 


Woman  s  Beauty  $3 

Some,  again,  have  tried  to  disparage  beauty  by 
maintaining  that  it  is  only  "  skin-deep,"  a  notion 
which  has  found  its  way  into  proverbial  lore.  The 
literature  of  the  past  contains  sundry  allusions  to 
this  idea,  and  in  the  Rev.  Rob.  Fleming's  poems 
( 1 69 1 )  we  are  reminded  that — 

"  Beauty  is  but  skin-thick,  and  so  doth  fall 
Short  of  those  statues  made  of  wood  or  stone." 

And  in  Ralph  Venning's  "  Orthodoxe  Paradoxe  " 
(1650)  it  is  said  that — 

"  All  the  beauty  of  the  world  'tis  but  skin-deep,  a  sunne- 
blast  defaceth  ;  " 

which  is  not  unlike  Sir  Thomas  Overbury's  lines 
in  his  poem,  "  A  Wife  " — 

"  And  all  the  carnall  beauty  of  my  wife 
Is  but  skin-deep."  r 

And  yet  there  is  much  truth  in  the  Hindu  adage, 
"  The  eyes  love  beauty,  the  heart  loves  wisdom," 
for,  as  it  has  been  observed  elsewhere,  there  is  no 
denying  the  truth  of  the  old  French  proverb,  "  It 
is  not  the  greatest  beauties  that  inspire  the  most 
profound  passion  ;  "  and  to  the  same  purport  is 
the  German  adage,  "One  cannot  live  on  beauty." 

1  See  Notes  and  Queries,  6th,  xii.  127. 


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CHAPTER  III 


WOM  A  N    S       DRESS 


"A  lovely  woman,  garmented  in  light." 

Shelley,  The  Witch  of  Atlas. 


y 


"  'HP*  HE  true  ornament  of  a  woman,"  writes 
Justin,  "is  virtue,  not  dress  ; "  but  the  love 
of  finery,  whether  rightly  or  wrongly,  has  always 
been  held  to  be  one  of  the  inherent  weaknesses  of 
womankind,  and  an  old  proverb  says  that  "  'tis 
as  natural  for  women  to  pride  themselves  on  fine 
clothes  as  'tis  for  a  peacock  to  spread  his  tail," 
with  which  may  be  compared  an  Eastern  proverb, 
"  A  woman  without  ornament  is  like  a  field 
without  water."  But,  perhaps,  there  is  some 
excuse  for  this  love  of  vanity,  especially  as  dress 
pleases  the  opposite  sex,  it  being  popularly  sup- 
posed in  Spain  that  "  A  well-dressed  woman 
draws  her  husband  from  another  woman's  door." 
It  is  said  in  Japan  that  "  An  ugly  woman  dreads 
the  mirror,"  and  some  allowance  must,  therefore, 
be  made  for  her  desire  to  make  up,  in  some 
measure,  by  dress  what  she  lacks  in  good  looks, 


34 


Woman 's  Dress  35 


although  the  proverb  runs  in  Italy  that  "  ugly 
women  finely  dressed  are  the  uglier  for  it."  This, 
however,  must  not  be  regarded  as  the  popular 
verdict,  a  Tamil  aphorism  being  not  far  wrong 
when  it  recommends  us  to  "  put  jewellery  on  a 
woman  and  to  look  at  her,  and  to  plaster  a  wall 
and  to  look  at  it,"  implying  that  both  will  be 
improved  by  care.  This  advice,  says  Mr.  Jensen, I 
is  generally  given  by  a  mother  to  one  who  con- 
fesses that  her  daughter  is  not  exactly  a  beauty. 
Even  Ovid  was  forced  to  complain  that  "  dress 
is  most  deceptive,  for,  covered  with  jewels  and 
gold  ornaments  everywhere,  a  girl  is  often  the 
least  part  of  herself;"  with  which  may  be  com- 
pared the  expression  of  Euripides,  which  is  to  this 
effect,  "She  who  dresses  for  others  beside  her 
husband,  makes  herself  a  wanton." 

It  has  long,  however,  been  a  familiar  adage  in 
most  countries  that  "  fine  feathers  make  fine 
birds  "  ;  for,  as  the  Spanish  say,  "  No  woman  is 
ugly  when  she  is  dressed  ; "  and,  according  to  the 
Chinese  proverb,  "  Three-tenths  of  a  woman's 
good  looks  are  due  to  nature,  seven-tenths  to 
dress  ;  "  a  piece  of  proverbial  lore  which  holds 
good  in  most  countries. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  woman's  dress  has  been 
much  caricatured  by  wits  and  satirists,  and  been 
made  the  subject  of  many  a  piece  of  proverbial 
lore.  As  Plautus  observed  of  a  certain  young 
lady,  "  it's  no  good  her  being  well  dressed  if  she's 
badly  mannered  ;Y  ill-breeding  mars   a   fine   dress 


Tamil  Proverbs,"  1897,  p.  382, 


36  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

1 

more  than  dirt " — in  other  words,  he  meant  to 
imply  that  dress  is  oftentimes  deceptive  and 
creates  a  false  appearance,  which  is  not  in  keeping 
with  the  woman  who  wears  it.  Many  of  our  old 
proverbs  are  to  the  same  effect,  an  oft-quoted  one 
affirming  that  "  fine  clothes  oftentimes  hide  a  base 
descent,"  with  which  may  be  compared  the  follow- 
ing :  "  Fine  dressing  is  a  foul  house  swept  before  the 
doors,"  an  illustration  of  which  Ray  thus  gives — 
"  Fair  clothes,  ornaments  and  dresses,  set  off 
persons  and  make  them  appear  handsome,  which, 
if  stripped  of  them,  would  seem  but  plainly  and 
homely.  God  makes  and  apparel  shapes." 
Extravagant  dress  has  been  universally  con- 
demned as  emblematic  of  bad  taste,  and,  among 
Hindustani  proverbs  on  the  subject,  a  woman  too 
showily  dressed  is  described  as  "  yellow  with  gold 
and  white  with  pearls."  A  Tamil  proverb, 
speaking  of  an  elaborately-dressed  woman,  says, 
"  It  is  true  she  is  adorned  with  flowers  and  gold, 
but  she  is  beaten  with  slippers  wherever  she 
goes  ; "  in  other  words,  such  a  woman,  however 
well  dressed,  is  a  bad  character,  and  must  be 
treated  with  scorn  ;  a  variation  of  this  maxim 
being  thus  :  "  If  you  dress  in  rags  and  go  out, 
you  will  be  an  object  for  admiration,  but,  if  you 
dress  up  nicely  and  go  out,  people  will  speak  ill 
of  you,"  thinking  that  you  are  an  overdressed 
woman,  and,  therefore,  inclined  to  be  fast. 
Among  German  proverbs  we  are  reminded  that 
"  A  woman  strong  in  flounces  is  weak  in  the 
head." 

In  Hindustani  proverbial  lore   an  old  woman 


Woman  s  Dress  $J 


extravagantly  dressed  is  contemptuously  described 
\  "  as  an  old  mare  with  a  red  bridle,"  and  "a gay  old 
woman  with  a  mat  petticoat,"  and,  according  to 
another  proverb,  when  a  young  girl  not  gifted 
with  good  looks  is  seen  elaborately  dressed,  it  is 
said,  "  On  the  strength  of  what  beauty  do  you 
deck  yourself  thus  ?  " 

The  inconsistency  of  dress  when  the  home  is 
poor  and  shabby  has  been  much  censured,  an 
Eastern  proverb  running  thus — "  Nothing  in  the 
house  and  she  sports  a  topaz  ring,"  with  which 
may  be  compared  another  saying,  "  Nothing  to 
eat  or  drink  in  the  house,  and  the  lady  of  it 
very  proud." 

But  the  chief  charm  of  a  woman's  dress  is 
consistency,  as  it  is  thus  expressed  in  a  Sindhi 
proverb  : — 

"  As  the  wall  so  the  painting, 
As  the  face  so  the  adornment." 

Similarly,  it  is  commonly  said  that  "  fine  words 
dress  ill  deeds,  and  hence  we  are  told  on  the 
Continent,  "  the  swarthy  dame,  dressed  fine, 
deceives  the  fair  one."  It  may  be  remembered, 
also,  that  the  same  idea  occurs  in  "  The  Taming 
of  the  Shrew  "   (act  iv.  sc.  3)  : — 

"  What,  is  the  jay  more  precious  than  the  lark, 
Because  his  feathers  are  more  beautiful  ? 
Or  is  the  adder  better  than  the  eel, 
Because  his  painted  skin  contents  the  eye  ? " 

Accordingly  proverbial  lore  in  most  parts  of  the 


38  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

world  warns  men  against  selecting  a  wife  by  her 
outward  appearance,  which  is  often  deceptive  ;  and 
a  common  Spanish  adage  says,  "  If  you  want  a 
wife  choose  her  on  Saturday,  not  on  Sunday  ;  "  in 
other  words,  choose  her  when  she  is  not  decked 
out  in  her  finery,  otherwise  a  man  may  regret 
his  mistake  in  the  words  of  one  of  Heywood's 
proverbs  : — 

^  "  I  took  her  for  a  rose,  but  she  breedeth  a  burr, 
She  cometh  to  stick  to  me  now  in  hir  lacke." 

On  the  other  hand,  true  beauty  needs  no  adorn- 
ment, or  outward  display,  to  enhance  its  charms, 
for,  as  it  is  said  in  Scotland,  "  A  bonny  bride  is 
sune  buskit,"  that  is,  soon  dressed,  or,  as  the 
Portuguese  say,  "  a  well-formed  figure  needs  no 
cloak,"  an  adage  which  coincides  with  Thomson's 
poetic  words  :  — 

"  Her  polished  limbs 
Veiled  in  a  simple  robe,  their  best  attire, 
Beyond  the  pomp  of  dress  ;  for  loveliness 
Needs  not  the  foreign  aid  of  ornament, 
But  is,  when  unadorn'd,  adorn'd  the  most." 

However  well  dressed  a  woman  may  be,  her  nature 
remains  the  same,  for,  as  the  French  say  : — 


An  ape's  an  ape,  a  varlet's  a  varlet, 
Though  she  be  drest  in  silks  and  scarlet." 


And,  among  the  many  German  proverbs  to  the 
same  effect,  it  is  said,  "  The  maid  is  such  as  she 


Woman  s  Dress  39 


was  bred,  and  tow  as  it  was  spun,"  and  "  Once  a 
housemaid  never  a  lady,"  which  remind  us  of  the 
popular  adage,  "  There's  no  making  a  silk  purse 
out  of  a  sow's  ear,"  and  there  is  a  Sindhi  maxim 
which  has  the  same  moral,  "  Beads  about  the  neck 
and  the  devil  in  heart." 

Another  proverb,  which,  under  a  variety  of 
forms,  is  found  in  our  own  and  other  countries,  runs 
thus — "  Let  no  woman's  painting  breed  thy  heart's 
fainting,"  because  women  who  thus  adorn  them- 
selves have  always  been  subject  to  reproach  ;  for, 
as  the  old  adage  says,  "A  good  face  needs  no 
paint,"  or,  as  another  version  has  it,  "  Fair  faces 
need  no  paint." 

Such  a  practice  as  that  of  rouging,  too, 
has  been  generally  discountenanced,  since  it  has, 
from  a  very  early  period,  been  the  recognised 
emblem  of  a  fast  woman,  for  it  has  long  been 
said  that  "  A  harlot's  face  is  a  painted  sepulchre," 
and  as  the  Italian  adage  runs — "  Women  rouge 
that  they  may  not  blush."  Hence  we  are  told  that 
"  A  woman  who  paints  puts  up  a  bill  to  let,"  with 
which  we  may  compare  the  popular  adage — "A 
woman  and  a  cherry  are  painted  for  their  own 
harm."  The  same  idea  exists  in  most  countries, 
and  there  is  a  Chinese  proverb  to  this  effect — "  I 
guess  that  a  good-looking  woman  needs  no  rouge 
to  make  her  pretty ;  "  and  it  is  further  said  that, 
u  although  the  rouged  beauty  repudiates  age,  she 
cannot  come  up  to  the  bloom  of  youth." 

As  "  blemishes  are  unseen  by  night,"  according 
to  an  old  Latin  proverb,  when  dress,  artfully 
arranged,    presents    most    women    in    their    most 


40  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

attractive  form,  their  admirers  were  warned  against 
falling  into  their  meshes  at  such  a  time  ;  for,  as  it 
is  still  commonly  said  by  our  French  neighbours, 
"  By  candlelight  a  goat  looks  a  lady,"  and  on  this 
account  we  are  recommended  by  the  Italians  not 
-^c  to  choose  "  A  jewel,  or  a  woman,  or  linen,  by 
candlelight."  It  may  be  added  that  this  idea  has 
given  rise  to  a  host  of  proverbs  much  to  the  same 
effect,  such  as,  "  When  candles  be  out  all  cats  be 
grey,"  and  "  Joan  is  as  good  as  my  lady  in  the 
dark." 

It  has  long  been  proverbial  that  the  "  smith's 
mare  and  the  cobbler's  wife  are  always  the  worst 
shod,"  a  truism  which,  under  one  form  or  another, 
is  found  in  most  countries,  a  Sindhi  adage  running 
thus — u  Her  lover,  an  oilman,  and  yet  her  hair 
dirty  ;  "  and  there  is  the  Hindu  proverb,  "  A  shoe- 
maker's wife  with  bursted  shoes,"  with  which  we 
may  compare  the  German  proverb,  u  Anxious 
about  her  dress,  but  disregarding  her  appearance," 
in  connection  with  which  we  may  quote  Hey- 
wood's  couplet  : — 

"  But  who  is  worse  shod  than  the  shoemaker's  wife, 
With  shops  full  of  new  shoes  all  her  life  ?" 

and  the  old  English  proverb,  "  The  tailor's  wife 
is  worst  clad." 

Woman's  dress,  again,  has  from  time  imme- 
morial been  strongly  censured  in  our  proverbial 
lore  as  productive  of  extravagance,  and  Ovid's 
words  have  long  ago  passed  into  a  popular  adage, 
"  What  madness  it   is  to  carry  all   one's  income 


Woman  s  Dress 


on  one's  back."  Among  modern  poets  Cowper, 
too,  wrote  in  the  same  strain  : — 

"  We  sacrifice  to  dress,  till  household  joys 
And  comforts  cease.     Dress  drains  our  cellars  dry, 
And  keeps  our  larder  clean  ;   puts  out  our  fires, 
And  introduces  hunger,  frost,  and  woe, 
Where  peace  and  hospitality  might  reign." 

And  Chinese  proverbial  lore  says,  "  Do  not  marry 
wives  or  concubines  who  are  gorgeously  fine." 
There  are  other  disadvantages,  for,  whereas  it  is 
said,  "  Silks  and  satins  put  out  the  fire  in  the 
kitchen,"  household  duties  are  neglected,  for  one 
of  Heywood's  proverbs  reminds  us  that  "  the 
more  women  look  into  the  glass  the  less  they 
look  to  the  house,"  a  German  version  running 
thus — "  a  woman  who  looks  much  in  the  glass 
spins  but  little ; "  and  we  may  compare  the 
French  saying,  "  A  handsome  landlady  is  bad 
for  the  purse  ;  "  but,  on  the  other  hand,  we  are 
told  "  that's  the  best  gown  that  goes  up  and 
down  the  house."  Whatever  the  opinion  of  the 
fair  sex  may  be  on  this  point,  we  would  quote  the 
wisdom  of  Shakespeare's  "  Taming  of  the  Shrew," 
(act  iv.  sc.  3)  : — 

)t  "  Our  purses  shall  be  proud,  our  garments  poor, 
For  'tis  the  mind  that  makes  the  body  rich  ; 
And  as  the  sun  breaks  through  the  darkest  clouds 
So  honour  peereth  in  the  meanest  habit." 

But,  whatever  censures  may  be  passed  on  a 
woman's  love  of  dress,  she  generally  has  some 
answer  in  defence.  A  puritan  preacher  once 
rebuked  a  young  girl  who  had  just  been  making 
her  hair  into  ringlets,   "  Ah,"  said  he,  "  had  God 


4 2  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

intended  your  locks  to  be  curled,  He  would  have 
curled  them  for  you."  4<  When  I  was  an  infant," 
replied  the  damsel,  "  He  did,  but  now  I  am  grown 
up  He  thinks  I  am  able  to  do  it  myself." 

At  the  same  time,  slovenly  dress  has  been 
equally  condemned,  and,  according  to  a  popular 
adage,  "  A  pretty  girl  and  a  tattered  garment  are 
sure  to  find  some  hook  in  the  way,"  which  is 
similar  to  the  Italian  expression,  "A  handsome 
woman  and  a  slashed  gown ;  "  which  coincide  with 
the  old  English  maxim — 

"  A  maid  oft  seen,  a  gown  oft  worn, 
Are  disesteemed  and  held  in  scorn." 

A  piece  of  Suffolk  folk-lore  tells  us  that  "  If 
you  have  your  clothes  mended  on  your  back,  you 
will  be  ill-spoken  of,"  or,  as  they  add  in  Sussex, 
"  you  will  come  to  want ;  "  and  in  the  Isle  of 
Man  one  may  often  hear  the  couplet  : — 

\jt    "  Snotty  boy,  clean  man, 

Snotty  girl,  slut  of  a  woman" — 

the  idea  apparently  being  that  a  dirty,  untidy 
girl  will  never  improve,  as  she  is  wanting  in 
proper  pride  in  her  appearance  ;  but  that  a  dirty 
boy  will  probably  improve,  as  a  lad  who  is  too 
much  concerned  with  his  looks  is  not  likely  to  do 
much  good  in  after  life ! *  It  was  formerly,  too,  a 
common  belief  in  most  parts  of  the  country  that 
clothes  were,  more  or  less,  indicative  of  a  woman's 
prosperity,  a  notion  which  is  found  in  the  Hindu- 
stani lore,  "  when  the  clothes  are  torn  poverty 
has  arrived." 

1  A.  W.  Moore,  "  Folk-lore  of  the  Isle  of  Man,"  1891. 


Woman's  Dress  43 


> 


f  There  is  a  very  prevalent  belief  among  women 
that  if  they  would  secure  luck  with  any  article  of 
dress,  they  must  wear  it  for  the  first  time  at  church. 
Equal  attention  is  also  paid  by  many  of  the  fair 
sex  to  the  way  they  put  on  each  article  of  dress, 
as,  in  case  of  its  being  accidentally  inside  out,  it  is 
considered  an  omen  of  success.  In  our  northern 
counties,  again,  if  a  young  woman  accidentally 
puts  a  wrong  hook,  or  button,  into  the  hole  when 
dressing  in  the  morning,  it  is  considered  to  be  a 
warning  that  a  misfortune  of  some  kind  will  befall 
her  in  the  course  of  the  day,  and  any  mishap, 
however  trivial,  is  regarded  as  a  proof  of  her 
fears  having  been  well  founded. 

Most  of  these  childish  fancies  retain  their  hold 
on  the  fair  sex,  and  where  is  the  young  lady  to  be 
found  who  is  not  mindful  of  the  admonition — 

"At  Easter  let  your  clothes  be  new, 
Or  else  be  sure  you  will  it  rue." 

A  similar  belief  also  prevails  in  connection  with 
Whitsuntide,  and  many  a  girl  would  consider 
she  had  forfeited  her  claim  to  good  luck  for 
the  ensuing  twelve  months  if  she  did  not  appear 
in  "  new  things  on  Whit  Sunday." 

Many,  also,  are  the  strange  fancies  relative  to 
colour  in  dress,  and  the  time-honoured  rhyme  is 
as  much  in  force  to-day  as  in  years  long  ago 
which  tell  us  that — 

"  Green  is  forsaken, 
And  yellow  is  forsworn, 
But  blue  is  the  prettiest  colour  that's  worn  " — 


44  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

a  piece  of  folk-lore  which  specially  appertains  to 
weddings. 

According  to  a  folk-rhyme  current  in  the 
southern  counties  : — 

"Those  dressed  in  blue 
Have  lovers  true, 
In  green  and  white, 
Forsaken  quite." 

And  another  old  proverbial  rhyme  says  : — 

"Blue  is  true,  Yellow's  jealous, 
Green's  forsaken,  Red's  brazen, 
White  is  love,  and  Black  is  death." 

From  its  popularity  blue  has  held  a  prominent 
place  in  love  philactery,  and  one  of  many  rhymes 
says  : — 

"If  you  love  me,  love  me  true, 
Send  me  a  ribbon,  and  let  it  be  blue  ; 
If  you  hate  me,  let  it  be  seen, 
Send  me  a  ribbon,  a  ribbon  of  green." 

i 

Mr.  Morris,  in  his  "  Yorkshire  Folk-Talk " 
(1892,  pp.  227-28),  writes  that  in  some  of  the 
North  Riding  dales  the  antipathy  to  green  as  a 
colour  for  any  part  of  the  bridal  costume  is  still 
very  strong.  u  I  was  once  at  a  farmhouse  in  a 
remote  district  near  Whitby,"  he  says,  "  and 
when  discussing  olden  times  and  customs  with  an 
elderly  dame  was  informed  there  were  many  she 
knew  in  her  younger  days  who  would  rather  have 
gone  to  the  church  to  be  married  in  their  common 
everyday  costume   than    in    a    green    dress.      My 


Woman  s  Dress  45 

informant,  however,  was  evidently  one  of  those 
who  held  the  same  faith  on  this  point  as  her  lady 
companions,  for  she  instanced  a  case  that  had 
come  under  her  own  observation  where  the  bride 
was  rash  enough  to  be  married  in  green,  but  it 
was  added  that  she  afterwards  contracted  a  severe 
illness." 

Blue,  again,  would  appear  to  be  in  ill-favour 
for  the  wedding  dress,  as  the  bride — 

"  If  dressed  in  blue, 
She's  sure  to  rue." 

And  yet  in  Leicestershire  it  is  said  that  a  bride 
on  her  wedding  day  should  wear — 

"  Something  new, 
Something  blue, 
Something  borrowed  ;" 

or,  as  a  Lancashire  version  puts  it — 

"  Something  old  and  something  new, 
Something  borrowed  and  something  blue." 

The  various  articles  of  a  woman's  clothing,  too, 
have  their  separate  fancies  attached  to  them, 
which,  in  some  instances,  have  not  only  been 
incorporated  by  our  peasantry  in  local  jingles  and 
rhymes,  but  occasionally  have  been  made  the 
subject  of  childish  similes.  Thus  the  poppy  is 
commonly  said  to  have  a  red  petticoat  and  a 
green  gown,  the  daffodil  a  yellow  petticoat  and 
green    gown,  and    so  on,   fanciful    ideas  of   this 


46  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

kind  being  expressed  in  many  of  our  nursery 
couplets,  as  in  the  following — 

"Daffadown-dilly  is  come  up  to  town, 
In  a  yellow  petticoat  and  a  green  gown  "  ;  * 

with  which  may  be  compared  a  Hindustani 
doggerel,  the  accuracy  of  which  is  only  too 
true  :— 

/  "  Says  the  hemp,  I  am  of  gorgeous  hue  ; 
Says  the  poppy,  I  am  king  of  the  world  ; 
But  says  the  opium,  I  am  a  lady-love, 
Who  takes  me  once  takes  me  for  ever."  2 

A  well-known  saying  in  Leicestershire  of 
another  class  says  "  Shake  a  Leicestershire  woman 
by  the  petticoat,  and  the  beans  will  rattle  in  her 
throat,"  an  expression  which  originated  in  the 
large  quantity  of  that  grain  grown  in  this  county, 
which  caused  it  to  be  nicknamed  "  Bean  Belly 
Leicestershire/'  There  is  another  version  applied 
to  the  opposite  sex,  which  runs  thus  "  Shake  a 
Leicestershire  man  by  the  collar,  and  you  shall 
hear  the  beans  rattle  in  his  belly."  3 

If  a  young  woman's  petticoats  are  longer  than 
her  dress  this  is  an  indication  that  her  mother 
does  not  love  her  so  much  as  her  father  ;  and, 
according  to,  a  Yorkshire  belief,  when  a  married 
woman's  apron  falls  off  it  is  a  sign  that  something 
is  coming  to  vex  her  ;  but  should  the  apron  of  an 

1  "Domestic  Folk-lore,"  pp.  84-85. 

2  See  S.  W.  Fallon,  "  Hindustani  Proverbs." 

3  See  Southey's  "Common  Place  Book,"  1851,  4th  Series, 
341. 


Woman  s  Dress  47 


unmarried  girl  drop  down  she  is  frequently  the 
object  of  laughter,  as  there  is  no  surer  sign  that 
she  is  thinking  about  her  sweetheart.  In  Suffolk 
the  big  blue  apron  usually  worn  by  cottage  women 
is  known  by  them  as  a  "mantle,"  and  it  is  con- 
sidered an  omen  of  ill-luck  if  their  mantle  strings 
come  untied.1 

Odd  beliefs  of  this  kind  might  easily  be 
enumerated,  for  even  a  pin  is  an  object  of  super- 
stition with  most  women,  who  invariably,  on 
seeing  one,  pick  it  up  for  the  sake  of  good  luck, 
as,  by  omitting  to  do  so,  they  run  into  imminent 
danger  of  incurring  misfortune,  a  notion  embodied 
in  the  subjoined  familiar  rhyme  : — 

"See  a  pin  and  pick  it  up, 
All  the  day  you'll  have  good  luck  ; 
See  a  pin  and  let  it  lie, 
All  the  day' you'll  have  to  cry." 

But  why  North-country  women  should  be  so 
persistent  in  their  refusal  to  give  one  another  a 
pin  it  is  not  easy  to  discover,  for  when  asked  for 
a  pin  they  invariably  reply,  "  You  may  take  one, 
but,  mind,  I  do  not  give  it."  This  prejudice 
may,  perhaps,  have  some  connection  with  the 
vulgar'  superstition  against  giving  a  knife  or  any 
sharp  instrument,  as  mentioned  by  Gay  in  his 
Shepherd's  Week: — 

y    "  But  woe  is  me  !  such  presents  luckless  prove, 
For  knives,  they  tell  me,  always  sever  love." 


1  "County  Folk-lore— Suffolk. "     Folk-lore  Society.     The 
Lady  Eveline  Camilla  Gurdon,  1893,  p.  135. 


CHAPTER    IV 


WOMAN  S    EYES 


Where  is  any  author  in  the  world 
Teaches  such  beauty  as  a  woman's  eye  ? " 

Love's  Labour'' s  Lost,  act  iv.  sc.  3. 


POETIC  imagery,  in  painting  the  varied 
beauties  of  the  eye,  has  applied  to  them  a 
host  of  graceful  and  charming  similes,  many  of 
which  illustrate  the  beliefs  and  fancies  of  our  fore- 
fathers respecting  these  so-called  "  keys  of  the 
human  face,"  or,  as  Shakespeare  has  described 
them,  "  windows  of  the  heart." 

It  has  long  been  a  disputed  question  as  to  what 
has  been  the  recognised  favourite  colour  of  the 
eyes,  the  poets  of  all  ages  having  laid  much  stress 
on  the  chameleon-like  iris  of  the  eye,  which  ever 
seems  to  vary  in  its  green  or  bluish  hue.  Thus 
Homer  speaks  of  Minerva  as  the  "  blue-eyed 
goddess,"  an  epithet  which  has  given  rise  to  con- 
siderable comment,  opinions  having  largely  differed 

48 


Woman  s  Eyes  49 


as  to  whether  the  poet  meant  this  colour,  or  some- 
thing between  a  green,  blue,  or  grey. 

Green  eyes  are  often  mentioned  in  classic 
literature,  and  they  found  special  favour  with 
early  French  poets,  who  were  extremely  fond  of 
speaking  of  them  under  the  title  of  yeux  vers — a 
taste  which  seems  to  have  been  generally  prevalent 
on  the  Continent.  The  Spaniards  considered  this 
colour  of  the  eye  an  emblem  of  beauty,  and  as 
such  there  is  an  amusing  allusion  to  it  in  "  Don 
Quixote  "  : — "  But  now  I  think  of  it,  Sancho,  thy 
description  of  her  beauty  was  a  little  absurd  in 
that  particular  of  comparing  her  eyes  to  pearls. 
Sure,  such  eyes  are  more  like  those  of  a  whiting, 
or  a  sea-bream,  than  those  of  a  fair  lady  ;  and  in 
my  opinion  Dulcinea's  eyes  are  rather  like  two 
verdant  emeralds,  veiled  in  with  two  celestial 
arches,  which  signify  her  eyebrows.  Therefore, 
Sancho,  you  must  take  your  pearls  from  her  eyes, 
and  apply  them  to  her  teeth,  for  I  verily  believe 
you  mistake  the  one  for  the  other !  "  And  we 
may  quote  the  subjoined  well-known  lines  in 
praise  of  green  eyes,  which  show,  like  many 
others  of  the  same  kind,  in  what  high  esteem 
they  were  formerly  held  :  — 

"  Ay  ojuelos  verdes, 
Ay  los  mis  ojuelos, 
Ay  hagan  los  cielos, 
Qui  de  mi  te  acuerdos." 

Then,  again,  Villa  Real,  a  Portuguese,  wrote  a 
treatise  for  the  purpose  of  setting  forth  the  esti- 
mation in  which  he  regarded  them  ;  and  Dante, 

5 


50  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

it  may  be  remembered,  speaks  of  Beatrice's  eyes 
as  emeralds — 

*■"'  "  Spare  not  thy  vision,  we  have  stationed  thee 
Before  the  emeralds,  whence  love  erewhile 
Hath  drawn  his  weapons  on  thee  " — 

"  emeralds,"  of  course,  here  meaning  the  eyes  of 
Beatrice. 

In  our  own  country  we  find  no  lack  of  allusions 
to  green  eyes,  and  in  the  "  Two  Noble  Kinsmen  " 
Emilia,  in  her  address  to  Diana,  says  :  "  Oh, 
vouchsafe  with  that  thy  rare  green  eye,  which 
never  yet  beheld  things  maculate  ! "  On  the 
other  hand,  Shakespeare  speaks  of  jealousy  as  "  a 
green-eyed  monster,"  and  we  know  that  the  phrase 
has  been  frequently  used  in  an  uncomplimentary 
manner.  But  this  is  the  exception,  for  what  more 
pleasing,  or  graceful,  instance  of  their  being  in 
repute  as  an  object  of  beauty  can  be  quoted  than 
that  given  by  Frances  Collins,  who  tells  us  that 
her  husband  in  writing  to  a  certain  lady  always 
spoke  of  her  eyes  as  sea-green  : — 

/•  "  So  stir  the  fire  and  pour  the  wine, 
And  let  those  sea-green  eyes  divine, 
Pour  their  love-madness  into  mine." 

And  at  another  time  he  wrote  these  lines  : — 


"  Cupid  plucked  his  brightest  plume, 
To  paint  my  mistress  in  her  bloom  ; 
Caught  her  eyes,  the  soft  sea-green, 
At  a  summer  noontide  seen." 


Woman  s  Eyes  51 


Longfellow  in  his  "Spanish  Student"  (act  ii. 
sc.  3)  has  painted  with  exquisite  effect  this  phase 
of  beauty  in  the  following  passage,  where  Victorian 
inquires  :  "  How  is  that  young  and  green-eyed 
Gaditana  that  you  both  wot  of?"  To  which 
Don  Carlos  sympathetically  adds,  "  Ay,  soft, 
emerald  eyes  !  "  After  a  while,  Victorian  resumes 
her  praises,  remarking  : — 

"  You  are  much  to  blame  for  letting  her  go  back. 
A  pretty  girl,  and  in  her  tender  eyes 
Just  that  soft  shade  of  green  we  sometimes  see 
In  evening  skies." 

But  perhaps  one  of  the  highest  tributes  of 
honour  to  green  as  the  colour  of  the  eye  is  that 
given  by  Drummond  of  Hawthornden,  who  could 
not  write  too  eulogistically  of  his  green-eyed 
maiden — 

"When  nature  now  had  wonderfully  wrought 
All  Auristella's  parts,  except  her  eyes  ; 
To  make  those  twins  two  lamps  in  beauty's  skies, 
The  counsel  of  her  starry  synod  sought. 
Mars  and  Apollo  first  did  her  advise, 
To  wrap  in  colour  black  those  comets  bright, 
That  love  him  so  might  soberly  disguise, 
And  unperceived  wound  at  every  sight. 
Chaste  Phoebe  spake  for  purest  azure  dies, 
But  Jove  and  Venus,  green  about  the  light, 
To  frame  thought  best,  as  bringing  most  delight, 
That  to  pined  hearts  hope  might  for  ay  arise. 
Nature,  all  said,  a  paradise  of  green 
There  placed,  to  make  all  love  which  have  them  seen." 

And    Mr.    Swinburne   in   his    "  Felise "    gives    a 
beautiful  picture  of  the  chameleon-like  iris — 


52  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

"  O  lips  that  mine  have  grown  into, 

Like  April's  kissing  May  ; 
O  fervid  eyelids,  letting  through 
Those  eyes  the  greenest  of  things  blue, 

The  bluest  of  things  grey." 

According  to  a  writer  in  the  Quarterly  Review, 
in  an  amusing  paper  on  physiognomy,  the  follow- 
ing characteristics  may  be  ascertained  by  the  colour 
of  the  eyes  :  "  Dark  blue  eyes  are  most  common 
in  persons  of  delicate,  refined,  or  effiminate  nature  ; 
light  blue,  and,  much  more,  grey  eyes,  in  the  hardy 
and  active  ;  greenish  eyes  have  generally  the  same 
meaning  as  the  grey  ;  hazels  are  the  more  usual 
indications  of  a  mind  masculine,  vigorous,  and 
profound  ;  "  with  which  may  be  compared  the 
following  well-known  lines  : — 

"  Black  eyes  most  dazzle  at  a  ball, 
Blue  eyes  most  please  at  evening  fall  ; 
The  black  a  conquest  soonest  gains, 
The  blue  a  conquest  best  retains  ; 
The  black  bespeaks  a  lovely  heart, 
Whose  soft  emotions  soon  depart  ; 
The  blue  a  steadier  frame  betray, 
Which  burns  and  lives  beyond  a  day  ; 
The  black  the  features  best  disclose, 
In  blue  my  feelings  all  repose  ; 
Then  each  let  reign  without  control, 
The  black  all  mind,  and  blue  all  soul."  * 

Like  green,  blue  eyes  have  always  been  much 
admired,  and  have  attracted  the  notice  of  poets. 
Thus  Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning,  in  her  "  Hector 
in  the  Garden,"  speaks  of — 

y.  "  Eyes  of  gentianellas  azure, 

Staring,  winking  at  the  skies"  ; 

1   See  Notes  and  Queries,  7th,  x.  471. 


Woman  s  Eyes  53 


and  Longfellow,  in  his  "  Masque  of  Pandora," 
says  : — 

"  O  lovely  eyes  of  azure, 
Clear  as  the  waters  of  a  brook  that  run, 
Limpid  and  laughing  in  the  summer  sun." 

Akenside  compares  blue  eyes  to  the  "  azure 
dawn,"  and  Kirke  White  sings  the  praises  of 
the  maiden's  "  blue  eyes'  fascination."  Shelley, 
again,  in  his  "  Prometheus  Unbound,"  likens 
eyes  of  this  colour  to  the  "  deep  blue,  boundless 
heaven  ;  "  but  it  is  perhaps  Keats  who — in  his 
sonnet,  written  in  answer  to  a  sonnet  by  J.  H. 
Reynolds,  ending  thus  : — 

"  Dark  eyes  are  dearer  far 
Than  those  that  mock  the  hyacinthus  bell  " — 

has  given  us  the  most  elaborate  picture  of  the 
charm  of  blue  eyes  : — 

"  Blue  !  'tis  the  life  of  heaven — the  domain 

Of  Cynthia — the  wide  palace  of  the  sun, 
The  tent  of  Hesperus,  and  all  his  train, 

The  bosomer  of  clouds,  gold,  grey,  and  dun. 
Blue  !   'tis  the  life  of  waters — Ocean 

And  all  its  vassal  streams  :  pools  numberless 
May  rage,  and  foam,  and  fret,  but  never  can 

Subside,  if  not  to  dark-blue  nativeness. 
Blue  !  gentle  cousin  of  the  forest-green, 

Married  to  green  in  all  the  sweetest  flowers, 
Forget-me-not,  the  Bluebell,  and  that  gueen 

Of  secrecy,  the  Violet  :  what  strange  powers 
Hast  thou,  as  a  mere  shadow  !  But  how  great, 
When  in  an  Eye  thou  art  alive  with  fate  !  "  l 


Keats's  Poems,     Forman,  vol.  ii.  p.  257.      1883. 


54  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

There  is  in  Spain  a  proverbial  saying  much  in 
use  which  shows  the  high  esteem  in  which  this 
colour  is  held,  and  it  runs  thus  :  "  Blue  eyes  say, 
'  Love  me  or  I  die '  ;  black  eyes  say,  '  Love  me 
or  I  kill  thee '  ; "  and  in  Hindustani  folk-lore  a 
blue-eyed  girl  is  supposed  to  be  fortunate. 

And  there  are  numerous  rhymes  in  this  country 
to  the  same  effect ;  one  current  in  Warwickshire 
running  thus  : — 

"  Blue-eyed — beauty, 
Do  your  mother's  duty  ; 
Black  eye, 
Brown  eye, 

Grey-eyed — greedy  gut, 
Eat  all  the  world  up." 

Another  version  in  Lincolnshire  is  this  : — 


v'      "  Blue  eye — beauty. 

Black  eye — steal  pie. 
Grey  eye — greedy  gut. 
Brown  eye — love  pie."  T 


Apart  from  blue  being  a  much  admired  colour 
of  the  eye,  it  would  seem  to  have  gained  an 
additional  popularity  from  having  been  the  recog- 
nised symbol  of  eternity  and  human  immor- 
tality. Similarly  the  ancient  heathen  poets  were 
wont  to  sing  the  praises  of  their  "  blue-eyed 
goddesses/'  Petrarch's  sonnets,  again,  are  ad- 
dressed to  a  blue-eyed  Laura.  Kriemhild,  of  the 
Nibelungen    Lied,  is  blue-eyed,  like   Fricka,  the 

1  See  Northall's  "  English  Folk-Rhymes,"  p.  299. 


Woman  s  Eyes  55 


Northern  Juno,  and  Ingeborg    of  the  FrithioPs 
Saga,  and  the  Danish  princess  Iolanthe. 

Blueness  about  the  eyes,  too,  was  considered  a 
certain  indication  of  love,  and,  to  quote  Lord 
Lytton's  words,  there  is  u  a  liquid  melancholy  of 
sweet  eyes  ;  "  which  reminds  us  of  the  simile  of 
the  Persian  poet,  who  compares  "  a  violet  spark- 
ling with  dew  "  to  a  the  blue  eyes  of  a  beautiful 
girl  in  tears  ;  "  and  we  may  compare  the  remark 
of  Rosalind  to  Orlando  in  "  As  You  Like  It  " 
(act  iii.  sc.  2),  who  enumerates  the  marks  of  love, 
"  a  blue  eye  and  sunken,  which  you  have  not." 

Another  favourite  colour  of  the  eye  was  grey, 
and  Douce,  in  his  "  Illustrations  of  Shakespeare," 
quotes  from  the  interlude  of  "  Marie  Magdalene  " 
a  song  in  praise  of  her,  which  says,  "  Your  eyes 
as  grey  as  glass  and  right  amiable  ;  "  and,  in  the 
a  Two  Gentlemen  of  Verona "  (act  iv.  sc.  4), 
Julia  makes  use  of  the  same  expression. 

Black  eyes  have  occasioned  many  curious 
fancies  respecting  them — some  complimentary, 
and  others  just  the  reverse.  Lord  Byron,  for 
instance,  describing  Leila's  eyes,  in  the  "  Giacour," 
says  : — 

"  Her  eye's  dark  charm  'twere  vain  to  tell, 

But  gaze  on  that  of  the  gazelle, 

It  will  assist  thy  fancy  well  : 
As  large,  as  languishingly  dark, 
But  soul  beam'd  forth  in  every  spark." 

And  when  addressing  the  maid  of  Athens  in 
his  tender  and  pathetic  lines,  he  writes,  "  By 
those  lids  whose  jetty  fringe  kiss  thy  soft 
cheeks'    blooming    tinge."     He    tells,    also,    how 


56  Fo Ik-Lore  of  Women 

the  beautiful  Teresa  had  "  the  Asiatic  eye  "  dark 
as  the  sky  ;  and  of  the  innocent  Haidee  he  gives 
this  picture  : — 

"  Her  hair,  I  said,  was  auburn,  but  her  eyes 

Were  black  as  death,  their  lashes  the  same  hue 

Of  downcast  length,  in  whose  silk  shadows  lies 
Deepest  attraction  ;  for  when  to  the  view 

Forth  from  its  raven  fringe  the  full  glance  flies, 
Ne'er  with  such  force  the  swiftest  arrow  flew." 

Apart  from  poetic  imagery,  the  black-eyed 
sisterhood  have  rarely  failed  to  get  their  share 
of  praise,  although,  it  is  true,  artists  have  seldom, 
if  ever,  painted  the  Madonna  dark,  for,  it  must 
be  remembered  : — 

"  In  the  old  time  black  was  not  counted  fair, 
Or  if  it  were  it  bore  not  beauty's  name, 
But  now  is  black  beauty's  successive  heir." 

It  has  been  pointed  out  that  Shakespeare  only 
mentions  black  hair  thrice  throughout  his  plays. 
Although  half,  at  least,  of  the  heroines  of  novels 
are  designated  as  having  a  fair  complexion  and 
the  colour  of  the  eyes  that  match  it,  we  must 
not  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  the  dark-eyed 
girl  is  generally  supposed  to  be  gifted  with  a 
power  of  force  of  expression  which  is  denied  to 
others.  And  as  Mr.  Finck  remarks, x  "  Inasmuch 
as  black-eyed  Southern  nations  are,  on  the  whole, 
more  impulsive  than  Northern  races,  it  may  be 
said  in  a  vague,  general  way  that  a  black  eye 
indicates  a  passionate  disposition."  But  there  are 
countless  exceptions  to  this  rule — as  in  the  case 
of  apathetic  dark-eyed  persons,  and,  conversely, 
1  "  Romantic  Love  and  Personal  Beauty." 


Woman  s  Eyes  57 


fiery,  blue-eyed  individuals.  Nor  is  this  at  all 
strange,  for  "  the  black  colour  is  not  stored  up  in 
some  mysterious  way  as  a  result  of  a  fiery 
temperament,  but  is  simply  accumulated  in  the 
iris  through  natural  selection  as  a  protection 
against  glaring  sunlight." 

Scottish  history  affords  a  good  specimen  of  a 
dark  woman  in  the  famous  "  Black  Agnes,"  the 
Countess  of  March,  who  was  noted  for  her 
defence  of  Dunbar  during  the  war  with  Edward 
III.,  maintained  in  Scotland  from  1333  to  the 
year   1338. 

"  She  kept  astir  in  tower  and  trench, 
That  brawling,  boisterous,  Scottish  wench  ; 
Came  I  early,  came  I  late, 
I  found  Black  Agnes  at  the  gate." 

According  to  Sir  Walter  Scott,  the  Countess  was 
called  Black  Agnes  from  her  complexion.  She 
was  the  daughter  of  Thomas  Randolph,  Earl  of 
Murray.  But  this  statement  has  been  disputed, 
and  it  is  affirmed  that  the  lady  in  question  was 
so  nicknamed  from  the  terror  of  her  deeds,  and 
not  from  her  dark  complexion. 

The  Mahometan  heaven  is  peopled  with 
a  virgins  with  chaste  mien  and  large  black  eyes," 
and  we  may  quote  what  the  poet  of  woman's 
lore  says  : — 

"  The  brilliant  black  eye 

May  in  triumph  let  fly 
All  its  darts  without  caring  who  feels  'em  ; 

But  the  soft  eye  of  blue, 

Tho'  it  scatters  wounds  too, 
Is  much  better  pleased  when  it  heals  them. 


Of 


^<S,Ty 


58  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

The  blue  eye  half  hid 

Says  from  under  its  lid, 
I  love,  and  am  yours  if  you  love  me, 

The  black  eye  may  say, 

Come  and  worship  my  ray, 
By  adoring,  perhaps  you  may  win  me." 

The  black-eyed  girl  has  long  been  credited  with 
being  deceitful,  but  there  is  little  or  no  ground 
for  this  stigma,  which,  like  so  many  other  notions 
of  a  similar  kind,  has  arisen  from  prejudice,  or 
some  such  old  adage  as  the  following,  which  may 
be  found  in  many  parts  of  the  country,  but  which, 
of  course,  is  devoid  of  all  truth  : — 


"  Grey-eyed  greedy, 
Brown-eyed  needy, 
Black-eyed  never  likin', 
Till  it  shame  a'  its  kin." 


Similar  folk-rhymes  are  to  be  found  in  different 
localities,  to  which  much  faith  was  formerly 
attached  by  the  credulous. 

From  a  very  early  period  various  devices  were 
employed  by  women  for  improving  the  colour  and 
appearance  of  the  eye.  The  ladies  of  the  East, 
for  instance,  tinged  the  edges  of  their  eyelids  with 
the  powder  of  lead  ore,  their  mode  of  procedure 
being  to  dip  into  the  powder  a  small  wooden 
bodkin,  which  they  drew  through  the  eyelids  over 
the  ball  of  the  eye.  But  such  artificial  con- 
trivances have  always  proved  a  poor  substitute 
for  Nature's  charms  ;  and,  as  Antoine  Heroet,  an 
early     French    poet,     in     his     "  Les    Opuscules 


Woman  s  Eyes  59 


d' Amour,"  says  of  love,  so  it  is  equally  true 
of  such  devices  :  "  It  is  not  so  strange  an 
enchanter  that  he  can  make  black  eyes  become 
green,  that  he  can  turn  a  dark  brown  into  clear 
whiteness."  But,  when  it  is  remembered  how 
enviable  a  prize  beauty  has  always  been,  some  allow- 
ance must  be  made  for  the  fair  sex  if  they  have 
resorted  to  various  little  contrivances  for  enhanc- 
ing the  attractiveness  of  the  most  significant 
features  of  the  human  face. 

Amongst  other  fancies  associated  with  the  eye 
we  are  told  that  "it's  a  good  thing  to  have 
meeting  eyebrows,  as  such  a  person  will  never 
know  trouble  ;  "  but  according  to  the  generally 
considered  idea  such  a  peculiarity  is  far  from 
being  lucky,  an  illustration  of  which  is  given  by 
Charles  Kingsley  in  his  "  Two  Years  Ago,"  who 
thus  writes  :  "  Tom  began  carefully  scrutinising 
Mrs.  Harvey's  face.  It  had  been  very  handsome. 
It  was  still  very  clever,  but  the  eyebrows  clashed 
together  downwards  above  her  nose  and  rising 
higher  at  the  outward  corners  indicated,  as  surely 
as  the  restless,  down-drop  eye,  a  character  self- 
conscious,  furtive,  capable  of  great  inconsistencies, 
possibly  of  great  deceit."  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Greeks  admired  those  eyebrows  which  almost 
met,  and  Anacreon's  mistress  had  this  style 
of  face  : — 

"  Taking  care  her  eyebrows  be 
Not  apart,  nor  mingled  neither, 
But  as  hers  are,  stol'n  together  ; 
Met  by  stealth,  yet  leaving  too 
O'er  the  eyes  their  darkest  hue." 


60  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

Theocritus,  in  one  of  his  Idylls,  makes  one  of  the 
speakers  value  himself  upon  the  effect  his  beauty 
had  on  a  girl  with  meeting  eyebrows : — 

"  Passing  a  bower  last  evening  with  my  cows, 
A  girl  look'd  out — a  girl  with  meeting  brows. 
1  Beautiful  !   beautiful  !  '  cried  she.     I  heard, 
But  went  on,  looking  down,  and  gave  her  not  a  word." 

Chaucer  apologises  for  Creseyde's  meeting  eye- 
brows, but  Lord  Tennyson's  compliment  of  Paris 
to  CEnone,  ascribing  to  her  "  the  charms  of 
married  brows,''  implies  that  they  actually  met. 
However  repugnant  to  the  modern  idea  of  beauty 
meeting  eyebrows  may  be  in  Europe,  they  are  so 
far  from  being  contrary  to  the  Asiatic  canon  of 
beauty,  that,  where  they  do  not  exist,  or  where 
only  imperfectly  developed,  young  ladies  are  in 
the  habit  of  prolonging  the  curves  by  means  of 
black  pigment  until  they  are  perfectly  conjoined. 
In  the  same  way,  meeting  eyebrows  are  much 
admired  in  Turkey,  where  women  encourage  the 
juncture  by  artificial  means. 

Referring  to  the  colour  of  the  eyebrows,  it  is 
agreed  on  all  hands  that  a  female  eyebrow  ought 
to  be  delicately  and  nicely  pencilled.  Thus 
Dante  says  of  his  mistress's  that  it  looked  as  if  it 
were  painted — "  The  eyebrow,  polished  and  dark, 
as  though  the  brush  had  drawn  it ; "  and  Shake- 
speare, in  his  "Winter's  Tale,"  (act  ii.  sc.  i)  makes 
Mamillius  speak  much  in  the  same  strain  : — 

"  Black  brows,  they  say, 
Become  some  women  best,  so  that  there  be  not 
Too  much  hair  there  ;  but  in  a  semicircle  ; 
Or  a  half-moon  made  with  a  pen." 


Woman  s  Eyes  61 


There  can  be  no  doubt  that  eyebrows  have  been, 
from  time  immemorial,  much  in  request,  and  we 
know  how  ladies  of  fashion  have  at  different 
times  resorted  to  sundry  expedients  to  give 
prominence  to  this  feature  of  beauty.  Artists 
have  introduced  them  with  much  effect  into  many 
of  their  famous  works  of  art,  and  poets  have/ 
loved  to  sing  of  maidens  with  their  dark  eye- 
brows. Some,  it  would  seem,  had  admired  a 
contrast  between  the  hair  and  the  eyebrows,  and 
Burns  tells  of  a  certain  lass  how — 

"  Sae  flaxen  were  her  ringlets, 

Her  eyebrows  of  a  darker  hue, 
Bewitchingly  o'erarching 

Twa  laughing  e'en  o'  bonny  blue." 

It  is  curious  to  find  how  the  idea  of  beauty,  as 
far  as  the  colour  of  the  eyebrow  is  concerned, 
has  undergone  numerous  variations.  In  Central 
Africa  women  stain  their  hair  and  eyebrows 
with  indigo,  and  Georgian  damsels,  following 
their  own  idea  of  aesthetic  taste,  blacken  their 
eyebrows,  which  gives  them  a  striking  appear- 
ance. 

Again,  Japanese  ladies  when  married,  in  order 
to  prevent  any  likelihood  of  jealousy  on  the  part 
of  their  husbands,  have  long  been  in  the  habit  of 
removing  their  eyebrows;  and,  among  some  of  the 
South  American  and  African  tribes,  it  has  been 
customary  to  eradicate  or  destroy  the  hair,  a 
practice  which  has  been  often  extended  to  the 
eyebrows  and  eyelashes. 

Much,  too,  has  been   written  on  the  shape  of 


62  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

the  eyebrow,  the  arched  one  having  been  most 
generally  admired.  This  is  especially  discernible 
in  the  works  of  the  old  masters,  and  is  frequently 
mentioned  in  bygone  chronicles  of  fashion  as  a 
distinguishing  feature  of  many  of  the  beautiful 
women  of  past  years.  But  Leigh  Hunt  considers 
it  doubtful  whether  "  the  eyebrows  were  always 
devised  to  form  separate  arches,  or  to  give  an 
arched  character  to  the  brow  considered  in 
unison."  Perhaps,  as  he  adds,  a  sort  of  double 
curve  was  recommended,  "  the  particular  one 
over  the  eye,  and  the  general  one  in  the  look 
together."  At  any  rate,  a  finely  shaped  eyebrow 
has  rarely  failed  to  attract  attention,  and  as 
Herder  has  remarked,  an  arched  eyebrow  is  the 
rainbow  of  peace,  because  when  "  straightened  by 
a  frown,  it  portends  a  storm." 


CHAPTER    V 


WOMANS     TONGUE 


"How  sweetly  sounds  the  voice  of  a  good  woman  ! 
It  is  so  seldom  heard  that,  when  it  speaks, 
It  ravishes  all  senses." 

Massinger,  Old  Law,  iv.  2. 

ALTHOUGH  a  well-known  proverb  tells  us 
that  "  a  silent  woman  is  always  more 
admired  than  a  noisy  one,"  the  Chinese  have  a 
favourite  saying  to  the  effect  that  "a  woman's 
tongue  is  her  sword,  and  she  does  not  let  it  rust ;  " 
with  which  may  be  compared  the  Hindustani 
proverb,  "  For  talk  I'm  best,  for  work  my  elder 
brother-in-law's  wife  ; "  which  has  its  counterpart 
in  this  country,  where  it  is  said,  "A  woman's 
strength  is  in  her  tongue,"  and  in  Wales  the 
adage  runs  thus  : — 


"  Be  she  old,  or  be  she  young, 
A  woman's  strength  is  in  her  tongue." 

But  proverbial  literature  has  generally  held  that 

whatever   a  woman   says  must    be   received  with 

63 


64  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

caution  ;  and,  according  to  an  African  adage, 
"  If  a  woman  speaks  two  words  take  one  and 
leave  the  other,"  with  which  may  be  compared  an 
Eastern  saying,  "A  woman's  talk  heat  from 
grass  " — that  is,  worthless. 

But,  granted  the  effective  use  frequently  made 
by  this  weapon,  the  teachers  of  old  were  of 
opinion  that  "  Silence  is  the  best  ornament 
of  a  woman  ;  "  or,  as  another  version  expresses 
it,  "  Silence  is  a  fine  jewel  for  a  woman,  but  it 
is  little  worn."  l 

In  days  gone  by  a ,  singular  sign — a  very 
favourite  one  with  oil  painters — was  "  The  Good 
Woman,"  originally  expressive  of  a  female  saint, 
a  holy  or  good  woman,  who  had  met  her  death 
by  the  loss  of  her  head,  and  how  by  the  waggery 
of  after  ages  the  good  woman  came  to  be  con- 
verted into  the  Silent  Woman,  as  if  it  were  a 
matter  of  necessity,  is  thus  explained — 

**  A  silent  woman,  Sir  !  you  said  ; 
Pray,  was  she  painted  without  a  head  ? 
Yes,  Sir,  she  was  !     You  never  read  of 
A  silent  woman  with  her  head  on. 
Besides,  you  know,  there's  nought  but  speaking 
Can  keep  a  woman's  heart  from  breaking  ! " 

And  M.  W.  Praed,  in  his  tale  of  "Lillian," 
by  an  ingenious  metaphor  of  a  beautiful  idiot 
would  explain  a  headless  woman — 

"And  hence  the  story  had  ever  run, 
That  the  fairest  of  dames  was  a  headless  one." 


1  See  Croker's  "Fairy  Legends  and  Traditions  of  the  South 
of  Ireland."     Edited  by  Thomas  Wright,  p.  235. 


Woman  s   Tongue  65 


But  proverbial  wisdom  is  generally  agreed  that 
"  there  never  was  in  any  age  such  a  wonder  to  be 
found  as  a  dumb  woman,"  and  the  Germans  say, 
"  when  a  woman  has  no  answer  the  sea  is  empty 
of  water." 

In  the  old  Scotch  ballad  of  "  The  Dumb  Wife 
of  Aberdour,"  the  husband  is  represented  (writes 
Mr.  W.  A.  Clouston  in  Notes  and  Queries, 
6th  Series,  i.  272)  as  meeting  with  "a  great  grim 
man  " — the  devil,  in  fact — to  whom  he  complains 
of  his  misfortune  in  having  a  wife  who  was 
dumb ;  upon  which  the  Arch-fiend  says  to  him  : — 

"  Tak  no  disdain, 
And  I  sail  find  remeid, 
Gif  thou  wilt  counsel  keep, 

And  learn  well  what  I  say  : 
This  night,  in  her  first  sleep, 

Under  her  tongue  then  lay 
Of  quaking  aspen  leaf. 

The  whilk  betokens  wind, 
And  she  shall  have  relief 

Of  speaking,  thou  shalt  find, 
What  kind  of  tale,  withouten  fail, 

That  thou  of  her  requires. 
She  shall  speak  out,  have  thou  nae  doubt, 

And  mair  than  thou  desires." 

To  make  sure  work,  the  husband  lays  three 
leaves  under  her  tongue  ;  and  when  she  awoke  in 
the  morning  she  at  once  began  to  speak  to  him 
— with  a  vengeance.  He  afterwards  consults  with 
the  fiend  about  making  her  dumb  again,  but 
quoth  Satan  : — 

6 


66  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

"The  least  devil  in  hell 

Can  give  a  wife  her  tongue  ; 
The  greatest,  I  you  tell, 

Can  never  make  her  dumb." 

The  Satanic  device  of  placing  an  aspen  leaf  in  a 
woman's  mouth  to  make  her  speak,  he  adds,  is 
alluded  to  in  an  old  English  book  entitled  "  The 
Praise  of  All  Women,  called  Mulierum  Pean. 
Very  fruitful  and  delectable  to  all  the  Readers — 

"  '  Look  and  read  who  can, 
This  work  is  praise  to  each  woman.'  " 

The  author,  Edward  Gosynhill,  thus  accounts 
for  the  origin  of  woman's  tongue  : — 

"  Some  say,  the  woman  had  no  tongue 
After  that  God  did  her  create, 
Until  the  man  took  leaves  long 
And  put  them  under  her  palate  ; 
An  aspen  leaf  of  the  devil  he  gat, 
\        And  for  it  moveth  with  every  wind, 

They  say  women's  tongues  be  of  like  kind." 

On  the  principle  that  "  Speech  is  silver,  silence 
is  gold,"  it  was  formerly  held  that  "  One  tongue 
is  enough  for  two  women  " — an  adage,  we  are 
told,  which  is  "  no  less  applicable  to  stormy  Shrews 
than  adverse  to  learned  women  who  have  the 
command  of  many  tongues." l  It  should  be 
remembered,  also,  that  the  rhyme,  which  with  a 
slight   alteration   is    often    uttered   as    a    warning 

1  Jeaffreson's  "Brides  and  Bridals,"  vol.  i.  p.  350. 


Woman  s   Tongue  67 

to    children     over-talking     their    elders,    ran    in 
former  times  thus  :  — 


"  Maidens  should  be  mild  and  meek, 
Swift  to  hear  and  slow  to  speak." 

Another  version  slightly  different  is  this  : 
"  Maids  should  be  seen  and  not  heard,"  which 
occurs  in  "  The  Maids'  Complaint  against  the 
Bachelors"  (1675,  p.  3),  where  it  is  called  "a 
musty  proverb  "  ;  and  among  further  maxims,  it 
is  said,  "  Silence  is  a  fine  jewel  for  a  woman  but 
little  worn,"  and  "  Silence  is  the  best  ornament  of 
a  woman." 

The  persistency  of  a  woman's  tongue  has  been 
made  the  subject  of  frequent  comment  in  our  pro- 
verbial lore,  experience,  having  long  proved  that 
"  a  woman's  tongue  wags  like  a  lamb's  tail,"  or,  as 
it  is  said  in  France,  "  Foxes  are  all  tail,  and  women 
are  all  tongue."     And,  according  to  an  Alsatian 

<  proverb,  "  If  you  would  make  a  pair  of  good 
-  shoes,  take  for  the  sole  the  tongue  of  a  woman — 
it  never  wears  out."  A  Welsh  proverb  says, 
"  Arthur  could  not  tame  a  woman's  tongue," 
which  is  not  surprising  if  there  be  any  truth 
in  the  maxim  that  "  A  woman  will  scold  the  devil 
out  of  a  haunted  house,"  which  reminds  us  of  an 
amusing  little  anecdote  told  of  Tom  Hood,  who, 
on   hearing   the   piety  of  a  very  loquacious  lady 

^.  spoken  of,  humorously  said,  "  Yes,  she  is  well 
known  for  her  mag-piety;"  and  there  is  the 
German  proverb,  "  Women  are  never  at  a  loss  for 
words."     An  amusing  couplet,  which  is  proverbial 


68  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

in  the  neighbourhood  of  Salisbury,  thus  speaks  of 
a  woman's  tongue  : — 


"  Nature,  regardless  of  the  babbling  race, 
Planted  no  beard  upon  a  woman's  face  ; 
Not  Freddy  Keene's  razors,  though  the  very  best, 
Could  shave  a  chin  that  never  is  at  rest."  l 


And  as,  from  time  immemorial,  women  have 
been  accused  of  gossiping,  it  is  not  surprising  that 
this  fault  should  have  been  made  the  subject  of 
legal  penalties,  as  at  St.  Helena,  where,  among 
the  ordinances  promulgated  in  the  year  1789,  we 
find  the  following  : — "Whereas  several  idle,  gossip- 
ing women,  made  it  their  business  to  go  from  house 
to  house,  about  this  island,  inventing  and  spread- 
ing false  and  scandalous  reports  of  the  good  people 
thereof,  and  thereby  sow  discord  and  debate 
among  neighbours,  and  often  between  men  and 
their  wives,  to  the  great  grief  and  trouble  of  all 
good  and  quiet  people,  and  to  the  utter  extin- 
guishing of  all  friendship,  amity,  and  good  neigh- 
bourhood ;  for  the  punishment  and  suppression 
thereof,  and  to  the  intent  that  all  strife  may  be 
ended,  we  do  order  that  if  any  women,  from 
henceforth,  shall  be  convicted  of  tale-bearing, 
mischief-making,  scolding,  or  any  other  notorious 
vices,  they  shall  be  punished  by  ducking,  or 
whipping,  or  such  other  punishment  as  their 
crimes  or  transgressions  shall  deserve,  or  the 
Governor  and  Council  shall  think  fit." 

According  to  an   Italian  saying,  "three  women 

1  Notes  and  Queries,  6th  Series,  ii.  457. 


Woman  s   Tongue  69 

and  three  geese  make  a  market,"  which  is  also  found 
among  Hindustani  proverbs,  "Madame  Slut  and 
two  farmers'  wives  make  a  fair,"  a  version  of 
which  has  long  been  current  in  this  country,  where 
it  is  said,  "  three  women  make  a  market,  four  a 
fair,"  as  they  are  sure  to  attract  notice,  and  to 
make  themselves  heard.  This  piece  of  proverbial 
lore  is  alluded  to  in  "  Love's  Labour's  Lost ' 
(act  iii.  sc.  i.)  : — 

"Thus  came  your  argument  in  ; 
Then  the  boy's  fat  Penvoy,  the  goose  that  you  bought." 

And  in  an  old  work  entitled  "  Marriage  of  Wit 
and  Wisdom,"  published  about  the  year  1570,  we 
find  the  proverbial  phrase,  <c  She  can  cackle  like  a 
cadowe,"  i.e.,  a  jackdaw,  with  which  may  be  com- 
pared the  adage,  "  She's  a  wagtail."  An  early 
MS.  of  the  fifteenth  century  contains  this  version  : 

"  A  young  wife  and  a  harvest  goose, 
Much  cackle  will  both  ; 
A  man  that  hath  them  in  his  clos  [possession], 
He  shall  rest  wroth." 

And  we  may  compare  with  the  above  the  following 
from  the  old  nursery  rhyme  : — 

"  Misses  One,  Two,  and  Three,  could  never  agree, 
While  they  gossiped  round  a  tea-caddy." 

A  woman's  tongue,  again,  it  is  said,  must  not 
be  always  trusted,  for  "  a  honey  tongue,  a  heart  of 
gall,"  or,  as  another  version  puts  it,  "  Too  much 


yo  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

courtesy,  too  much  craft."  Similarly,  an  African 
proverb  says,  "  Trust  not  a  woman,  she  will  tell 
thee  what  she  has  just  told  her  companion ;"  and  a 
Turkish  adage  tells  us  not  to  "  trust  the  promise 
of  the  great,  the  calm  of  the  sea,  the  evening  twi- 
light, the  word  of  a  woman,  or  the  courage  of  the 
horse."  Nothing,  too,  is  more  derogatory  to  a 
woman  than  coarse  or  bad  language,  and  hence  she 
is  warned  that  "  Bad  words  make  a  woman  worse  : " 
words  which  call  to  mind  Martial's  epigram  : — 


"Fair,  rich,  and  young  !     How  rare  is  her  perfection, 
Were  it  not  mingled  with  one  foul  infection  ; 
So  proud  a  heart,  so  cursed  a  tongue, 
As  makes  her  seem  nor  rich,  nor  fair,  nor  young." 


And  a  popular  maxim  attributed  to  Tasso  tells  us 
that  "  Women  have  tongues  of  craft,  and  hearts 
of  guile  ;  "  and,  on  this  account,  we  are  told  that 
"  he  who  listens  to  the  words  of  a  woman  will  be 
accounted  worthless,"  as,  not  only  lacking  common 
sense,  but  as  acting  on  her  advice  which  can 
bring  him  no  good. 

Although  proverbial  wisdom  is  agreed  that,  to 
quote  a  German  adage,  "  A  woman  has  never 
spoiled  anything  through  silence,"  her  fondness  or 
talking  is  further  exemplified  in  such  proverbs  as 
"  Her  tongue  steals  away  all  the  time  from  her 
hands,"  and  "  All  women  are  good  Lutherans," 
they  say  in  Denmark,  "  because  they  would 
rather  preach  than  hear  Mass  ;  "  whereas  the  old 
English  saying  enjoins,  "  Let  women  spin  and  not 
preach."     One   of  Hey  wood's    proverbs    tells   us 


Woman  s   Tongue 


7i 


that  "  Husbands  are  in  heaven  whose  wives  scold 
not,"  which  is  similar  to  the  well-known  adage  : — 

"It  is  a  good  horse  that  never  stumbles, 
And  a  good  wife  that  never  grumbles ;  " 


for,  as  it  is  commonly  said  throughout  Scotland, 
"  A  house  wi'  a  reek  and  a  wife  with  a  reerd  will 
make  a  man  rin  to  the  door,"  a  dictum  which  has 
its  equivalent  in  Spain — 

"  Smoke,  a  dripping  roof,  and  a  scolding  wife, 
Are  enough  to  drive  a  man  out  of  his  life." 

a  version  of  which  was  formerly  current  in  the 
North  of  England  : — 

"  Smoke,  rain,  and  a  very  curst  wife, 
Make  a  man  weary  of  house  and  life  ; " 

and  we  may  compare  the  Hindustani  proverb 
which,  describing  a  woman  who  is  quarrelsome 
beyond  endurance,  says,  u  She  quarrels  with  the 
breeze."  Disagreeable  as  such  tongues  may  be, 
equally  to  be  avoided  is  "  a  groaning  wife,"  for  as 
the  Scotch  peasantry  tell  us,  "  a  grunting  horse  and 
a  graneing  wife  seldom  fail  their  master,"  implying 
that  women  who  are  constantly  in  the  habit  of 
complaining  how  ill  they  are,  generally  contrive 
to  live  as  long  as  their  neighbours. 

Closely  allied  with  the  proverbial  lore  associated 
with  a  woman's  tongue  may  be  mentioned  the 
strong  antipathy  to  a  woman  whistling  about  a 
house  or  even  out  of  doors,  for,  according  to  a 


J  2  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

well-known  proverb,  of  which  there  are  several 
versions  : — 

"  A  whistling  woman  and  a  crowing  hen, 
Are  neither  fit  for  God  nor  men  ;" 

or,  as  they  say  in  the  West  of  England,  "  A 
whistling  woman  and  a  crowing  hen  are  two  of  the 
unluckiest  things  under  the  sun."  Why  there 
should  be  this  deep-rooted  prejudice  it  is  difficult 
to  decide,  unless  we  accept  the  explanation  in  the 
subjoined  couplet  : — 

"  A  whistling  wife  and  a  crowing  hen, 
Will  call  the  old  gentleman  out  of  his  den ; " 

or,  as  the  peasantry  say  in  Cheshire,  "  Will  fear 
the  old  lad  out  of  his  den."  There  are  numerous 
versions  of  this  popular  piece  of  folk-lore,  one 
warning  us  that — 

"  Whistling  girls  and  crowing  hens, 
Always  come  to  some  bad  end ; " 

and  again — 

"  A  whistling  wife  and  a  crowing  hen, 
Will  come  to  God,  but  God  knows  when  ; " 

and  we  may  compare  the  Sinhalese  proverb,  "  It 
is  said  that  even  the  hen  reared  by  a  talkative 
woman  crows."  This  superstition,  too,  is  largely 
shared  by  the  seafaring  community,  and,  some  years 
ago  when  a  party  of  ladies  were  going  on  board  a 
vessel    at    Scarborough,   the    captain    declined    to 


Woman  s   Tongue  73 

allow  one  to  enter,  exclaiming,  "  Not  that  young 
lady,  she  whistles."  Curiously  enough  the  vessel 
was  wrecked  on  her  next  voyage,  so  had  the  young 
lady  set  foot  on  it,  the  catastrophe  would  have 
been  attributed  to  her.  A  correspondent  of 
Notes  and  Queries  tells  us  that,  one  day  after 
trying  to  induce  his  dog  to  come  into  the  house, 
his  wife  essayed  to  whistle,  when  she  was  suddenly 
interrupted  by  a  servant — a  Roman  Catholic — who 
apologetically  said,  "  If  you  please,  ma'am,  don't 
whistle.  Every  time  a  woman  whistles,  the  heart 
of  the  Blessed  Virgin  bleeds."  Another  legend 
informs  us  that  the  superstition  originated  in  the 
circumstance  that  a  woman  stood  by  and  whistled 
as  she  watched  the  nails  for  the  cross  being  forged. 
The  French  have  a  similar  prejudice,  their  proverb 
running  as  follows  :^-"  Une  poule  qui  chante  le 
coq,  et  une  fille  qui  jiffle,  portent  malheur  dans  la 
maison,"  a  variation  of  which  runs  thus  : — 

"La  maison  est  miserable  et  mechante 
Ou  la  poule  plus  haut  que  le  coq  chant." 

("  That  house  doth  everday  more  wretched  grow, 
Where  the  hen  louder  than  the  cock  doth  crow  ") ; 

and  another  popular  adage  warns  us  that — 
"  La  poule  ne  doit  pas  chanter  devant  le  coq," 

a  translation  of  which  is  sometimes  heard  in  our 
own  country  : — 

"  111  fares  the  hapless  family  that  shows, 
A  cock  that's  silent,  and  a  hen  that  crows." 


74  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

This  superstition,  too,  is  not  confined  to  Europe, 
for  there  is  a  Chinese  proverb  to  the  same 
effect  : — 

"A  bustling  woman  and  crowing  hen, 
Are  neither  fit  for  gods  nor  men." 

It  is  an  injunction  of  the  priesthood,  writes  a 
correspondent  of  Notes  and  Queries  (4th  Series,  xi. 
475),  "  and  a  carefully  observed  household  custom, 
to  kill  immediately  every  hen  that  crows,  as  a  pre- 
ventive against  the  misfortune  which  the  circum- 
stance is  supposed  to  indicate;"  and  the  same 
practice,  he  adds,  prevails  throughout  many  parts 
of  the  United  States.  The  Japanese  tells  us  that 
"  when  the  hen  crows  the  house  goes  to  ruin," 
with  which  may  be  compared  the  Russian  adage, 
"  It  never  goes  well  when  the  hen  crows,"  whilst 
the  Persian  proverb  puts  the  matter  sensibly  thus : 
— "  If  you  be  a  cock,  crow  ;  if  a  hen,  lay  eggs;" 
and  there  is  the  Portuguese  maxim  with  a  similar 
meaning,  "  It  is  a  silly  flock  where  the  ewe  bears 
the  bell  ; "  a  further  proverb  telling  us  that  "  a 
house  is  in  a  bad  case  where  the  distaff  commands 
the  sword  ;"  and  the  Italians  go  still  further,  for 
they  say  that  "when  a  woman  reigns  the  devil 
frowns,"  to  which  may  be  added  the  Indian  adage, 
"  What  trust  is  there  in  a  crowing  hen  ? " 

From  the  numerous  instances  recorded  of  this 
piece  of  folk-lore  we  may  quote  an  amusing 
extract  from  one  of  Walpole's  letters  to  Lady 
Ossory,  January  8,  1772,  wherein  after  inform- 
ing her  Ladyship  of  the  damage  done  to  his  castle 


Woman  s  Tongue  7  5 

by  the  explosion  of  the  Hounslow  Powder  Mills, 
he  humorously  writes  : — 

"  Margaret  [his  housekeeper]  sits  by  the  waters 
of  Babylon  and  weeps  over  Jerusalem.  Yet  she 
was  not  taken  quite  unprepared,  for  one  of  the 
Bantam  hens  had  crowed  on  Sunday  morning, 
and  the  chandler's  wife  told  her  three  weeks  ago, 
when  the  Barn  was  blown  down,  that  ill-luck 
never  came  single.  She  is,  however,  very  thankful 
that  the  china-room  has  escaped,  and  says  God 
has  always  been  the  best  creature  in  the  world 
to  her." 

But  a  talkative,  as  well  as  a  whistling,  woman 
is,  in  German  lore,  equally  warned  against  making 
an  undue  use  of  her  tongue,  for  "  a  glaring  sunny 
morning,  a  woman  that  talks  Latin,  and  a  child 
reared  on  wine  never  come  to  a  good  end  ;  "  or,  as 
another  adage  has  it,  "A  woman  and  a  hen  are 
soon  lost  in  gadding  "  ;  and  according  to  another 
warning,  whereas  "  a  gossiping  woman  talks  of 
every  one,  every  one  talks  of  her."  I  The  most 
remarkable  thing,  as  the  Japanese  say,  is  that, 
although  "  a  woman's  tongue  is  only  three  inches 
long,  it  can  kill  a  man  six  feet  high  ;  "  but  the 
Chinese  have  a  common  proverb  to  the  effect  that, 
whereas  "  a  man's  words  are  like  an  arrow  close  to 
the  mark,  a  woman's  is  like  a  broken  fan."  A 
further  way,  also,  in  which  woman  is  occasionally 
able  to  use  her  tongue  to  advantage  is  in  the  art 
of  dissimulation  when  love  is  concerned,  a  piece 


1  See    J.   Barten's    "Collection    of   English  and    German 
Proverbs,"   Hamburg,    1890. 


J 6  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

of  craft    which,    skilfully    devised,    has    deceived 
many  a  lover,  for,  as  the  Spanish  adage  goes — 

"  He  that  speaks  me  fair  and  loves  me  not, 
I'll  speak  him  fair  and  love  him  not  ;  " 

with    which    may    be    compared    the    Hindustani 
proverb,  "  A  shrill  tongue  and  a  false  hand." 

But,  after  all,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that 
even  M  the  whisper  of  a  beautiful  woman  can  be 
heard  further  than  the  loudest  call  of  duty  ; " 
and  again,  u  A  sweet  tongue  will  conquer  the 
whole  world,  and  a  crooked  one  will  estrange  it." 


CHAPTER   VI 


WOMAN  S    GOODNESS 


And  whether  coldness,  pride,  or  virtue  dignify 
A  woman,  so's  she's  good  what  does  it  signify  !  " 

Byron,  Don  Juan. 


\ 


IF  we  are  to  believe  an  old  German  proverb, 
"there  are  only  two  good  women  in  the 
world  :  one  of  them  is  dead,  and  the  other  is  not 
to  be  found  " — a  statement  which  probably  even 
few  disparagers  of  the  fair  sex  would  be  ready  to 
accept,  although  it  may  be  supplemented  by  an 
equally  ungallant  French  saying  which  asserts 
that  "  a  man  of  straw  is  worth  a  woman  of 
gold."  _ 

But  it  must  be  remembered  that,  in  formulating 
maxims  of  this  kind,  individual  prejudice  has  in 
only  too  many  cases  been  responsible  for  originat- 
ing them,  and,  despite  their  having  in  the  course 
of  years  passed  into  proverbs,  they  must  not 
always  be  regarded  as  expressive  of  the  consensus 
of  opinion  of  the  country  to  which  they  belong. 


77 


7 8  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

Thus,  going  back  to  an  early  period,  Ovid  was  of 
opinion  that  M  it  is  easy  for  a  woman  to  be  good 
when  all  that  hinders  her  from  being  so  is 
removed  ; "  and,  although  an  old  English  pro- 
verb says,  "  All  women  are  good/'  it  qualifies  this 
assertion  by  cautiously  adding,  "  good  for  some- 
thing, or  good  for  nothing  ;  "  but  the  Hindu 
proverb  declares  that  "  oil  and  the  pure  woman 
will  both  rise." 

With  all  due  deference  to  the  fair  sex,  it  must 
unfortunately  be  acknowledged  that  much  of  the 
proverbial  lore  under  this  heading  relating  to 
them  is  far  from  being  of  a  complimentary  nature, 
as  who,  for  instance,  has  not  heard  of  the  familiar 
adage  : — 

"  If  a  woman  were  as  little  as  she  is  good, 
A  peascod  would  make  her  a  gown  and  a  hood  ; " 

and,  "  She's  a  good  maid,  but  for  thought,  word, 
and  deed."  And  this  estimate  of  woman's  worth 
has  been  largely  endorsed  by  those  who  have 
generally  been  credited  with  having  possessed 
some  knowledge  of  human  life.  Thus  Pope 
says  : — 

"  Shouldst  thou  search  the  spacious  world  around, 
Yet  one  good  woman  is  not  to  be  found  ;  " 

and  Massinger  speaks  in  the  same  strain  : — 

"  How  sweetly  sounds  the  voice  of  a  good  woman. 
It  is  so  seldom  heard  that,  when  it  speaks, 
It  ravishes  all  senses." 


Woman  s  Goodness  79 

But,  confining  ourselves  more  especially  to  the 
proverbial  lore  of  the  subject,  the  Spanish  warn  a 
man  to  "  beware  of  a  bad  woman,  and  to  put  no 
trust  in  a  good  one  ; "  and  according  to  an 
African  proverb,  "  a  woman  never  brings  a  man 
into  the  right  way."  Plautus,  too,  was  of  the 
same  opinion,  remarking,  "  He  that  can  avoid 
women,  let  him  do  so,  so  as  to  take  care  each 
day  not  to  do  what  he  may  regret  on  the 
morrow." 

The  scarcity  of  good  women  is  often  illustrated 
by  such  adages  as  the  following  : — 

"  A  good  woman  is  worth — if  she  were  sold — 
The  fairest  crown  that's  made  of  pure  gold  " 

— the  idea,  of  course,  being  that  such  a  woman  is 
not  to  be  found  ;  with  which  may  be  compared 
the  couplet  : — 

"  Show  me  a  man  without  a  spot, 
And  I'll  show  you  a  maid  without  a  blot." 

Again,  the  familiar  couplet : — 

"  A  spaniel,  a  woman,  and  a  walnut  tree, 
The  more  they're  beaten  the  better  they  be," 

may  be  traced  back  as  far  as  Martial.  There  are 
several  versions  of  this  time-honoured  maxim,  one 
of  which  is  furnished  by  Moor  in  his  "  Suffolk 
Words"  (p.  465):— 

"  Three  things  by  beating  better  prove — 
A  nut,  an  ass,  a  woman  : 
The  cudgel  from  their  back  remove, 
And  they'll  be  good  for  no  man," 


80  Folk-Lo7<-e  of  Women 

Webster,  in  his  "White  Devil"  (1612,  act  iv. 
sc.  4),  had  the  same  proverb  in  mind  when  he 
made  Flamineo  say  : — 

/  "  Why  do  you  kick  her,  say  ? 

Do  you  think  that  she's  like  a  walnut  tree  ? 
Must  she  be  cudgell'd  ere  she  bear  good  fruit  ? " 

And  at  the  present  day  the  Italians  are  wont  to 
affirm,  "  Women,  asses,  and  nuts  require  rough 
hands  ;  "  with  which  may  be  compared  the 
Chinese  adage,  c*  Nothing  will  frighten  a  wilful 
wife  but  a  beating."  Such  chastisement  of 
women  was  really  carried  into  effect  in  the  so- 
called  days  of  chivalry,  as  may  be  inferred  from 
the  precepts  of  the  knightly  orders  which  directed 
that  ladies  should  be  treated  respectfully  and 
tenderly.  And  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  as  it  has 
been  pointed  out,  "  the  social  annals  of  our 
Anglo-Saxon  period  comprise  revolting  stories  of 
the  barbarity  of  mistresses  to  their  slaves  ;  and  in 
later  times  the  lady  of  a  castle  or  manorial  seat 
was  accustomed  to  rule  her  children  and  domestics 
with  a  severity  surpassing  that  of  the  lord  whom 
she  obeyed  with  fear."  But  happily  woman  no 
longer  lives  under  the  lash  as  in  the  days  of  long 
ago,  and,  no  matter  how  bad  her  character  may  be — 

"  The  man  who  lays  his  hand  upon  a  woman, 
Save  in  the  way  of  kindness,  is  a  wretch, 
Whom  'twere  gross  flattery  to  name  a  coward." 

Indeed,  he  would  be  a  bold  man  who,  nowadays, 
would  think  to  follow  out  with  impunity  the 
spirit  of  the  old  proverbial  philosophy,  and,  under 


Woman  s  Goodness  81 

the  impression  that  he  was  making  his  wife  a 
good  woman,  put  into  practice  the  following 
admonition  : — 

"  The  crab  of  the  wood  is  sauce  very  good 
For  the  crab  of  the  sea  ; 
But  the  wood  of  the  crab  is  sauce  for  a  drab 
That  will  not  her  husband  obey." 

The  same  idea  is  embodied  in  numerous  other 
items  of  proverbial  lore,  such  as  "  A  ship  and  a 
woman  want  always  trimming  ; "  or,  as  another 
version  has  it,  "  Women  are  ships  and  must  be 
manned."  But  this  apparently  does  not  always 
answer,  for,  as  an  old  folk-rhyme  reminds  us  : — 

"  To  talk  well  with  some  women  doth  as  much  good 
As  a  sick  man  to  eat  up  a  load  of  greenwood." 

And,  a  propos  of  the  subject,  we  may  quote  the 
case  of  the  young  girl  who,  on  receiving  an  offer 
of  marriage  which  she  wished  to  accept,  submitted 
the  matter  to  her  father,  who  advised  her  against 
matrimony,  using  as  an  argument  St.  Paul's  words, 
a  They  who  marry  do  well ;  but  they  who  do  not, 
do  better."  «  Well,"  replied  the  damsel,  "  I  love 
to  do  well  ;  let  those  do  better  who  can." 

The  Scotch  would  appear  to  be  more  gallant  in 
their  opinion  of  the  fair  sex,  if  we  can  place 
reliance  on  the  following  adage  : — 

"  A'  are  gude  lasses,  but  where  do  the  ill  wives  come 
frae  ? " 

— a  saying  which  has  its  equivalent  in  Spain, 
where  there  is  a  proverb,  "  All  are  good  maids, 
but  whence  come  the  bad  wives  ?  " 


82  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

Even  the  good  woman  is  warned  against  the 
contaminating  influence  of  her  own  sex,  for,  as  an 
Eastern  piece  of  proverbial  lore  tells  us,  "  A  good 
woman,  beset  by  evil  women,  is  like  the  chaste 
mimosa  surrounded  by  poisonous  herbs  " — illus- 
trations of  which  maxim  under  a  variety  of  forms 
are  to  be  met  with  in  most  countries  ;  1  a  popular 
Oriental  adage  warning  us  that  "  bad  company  is 
friendship  with  a  snake  fencing  with  a  sword." 
But  it  has  been  generally  held  that  "  as  the 
woman,  so  her  friends/'  an  Osmandi  proverb 
reminding  us  that  "  the  life  of  a  good  woman  is 
shown  by  her  companions." 

Equivocal  as  many  of  the  proverbial  sayings 
are  when  speaking  of  woman's  goodness,  it  may 
be  noted  that  the  reverse  is  invariably  the  case  in 
the  folk-tales  and  legends  which  have  immor- 
talised in  a  hundred  and  one  ways  their  deeds  of 
bravery  and  self-denial.  At  Lilliard's  Edge,  for 
instance,  in  Roxburghshire,  was  fought,  in  1545, 
the  battle  of  Ancrum  Moor,  in  which,  according 
to  tradition,  a  female  warrior  named  Lilliard, 
when  covered  with  wounds,  continued  to  fight 
on  the  Scotch  side,  in  the  name  of  Squire 
Witherington.  Buried  on  the  field  of  victory,  a 
stone  was  raised  to  her  good  memory,  on  which 
were  written  these  words  : — 

"  Fair  Maiden  Lilliard  lies  under  the  stane, 
Little  was  her  stature,  but  great  was  her  fame  ; 
Upon  the  English  loons  she  laid  mony  thumps, 
And  when  her  legs  were  cuttit  off,  she  fought  upon  her 
stumps."  

1  Rev.  J.  Long's  "Eastern  Proverbs  and  Emblems,"  1881,  p.  25. 


Woman  s  Goodness  83 

Folk-lore  can  boast  of  numerous  historic  rhymes 
of  this  class,  and  elsewhere  we  have  alluded  to 
some  of  the  old  Church  builder's  legends  which 
owe  their  origin  to  the  marvellous  efforts  of  noble 
and  good  women.  Thus,  to  give  one  example,  a 
pretty  legend  is  told  of  the  building  of  Linton 
Church,  which  is  situated  on  a  little  knoll  of  fine, 
compact  sand,  without  any  admixture  of  stone, 
even  pebbles,  and  widely  different  from  the  soil 
of  the  neighbouring  heights.  The  sand  has,  how- 
ever, hardened  into  stone,  yet  the  particles  are  so 
coherent  that  the  sides  of  ready-made  graves 
appear  smooth  as  a  wall  to  the  depth  of  fifteen 
feet.  This  singular  phenomenon  is  thus  accounted 
for  by  the  local  tradition  :  Many,  many  years  ago 
a  young  man  killed  a  priest,  and  was  condemned 
to  death  for  murder  and  sacrilege.  By  the  inter- 
vention of  two  good  women — his  two  sisters — his 
life  was  spared  on  condition  that  they  should  sift 
as  much  sand  as  would  form  a  mound  on  which  to 
build  a  church. 

The  maidens  undertook  the  task,  but  on  their 
brother's  liberation  at  the  completion  of  the  church 
one  of  them  died  immediately  "  either  from  the 
effects  of  past  fatigue,  or  overpowering  joy."  I 

1  See  Henderson's  "  Folk-lore  of  the  Northern  Counties." 


CHAPTER   VII 


BAD    WOMEN 


"  A  worthless  woman  !     Mere  cold  clay- 
As  false  things  are  !  but  so  fair, 
She  takes  the  breath  of  man  away 
Who  gaze  upon  her  unaware." 

E.  B.  Browning, 
Bianca  among  the  Nightingales. 

ACCORDING  to  the  trite  old  adage,  "  Man, 
woman,  and  the  devil  are  the  three  degrees 
of  comparison, "  for  it  has  long  been  agreed  that 
when  a  woman  is  bad  she  far  excels  man  in  evil, 
a  maxim  which  has  been  upheld  by  the  proverb 
lore  of  most  countries ;  a  Chinese  proverb  affirming 
that  "  there  is  no  such  poison  in  the  green  snake's 
mouth,  or  the  hornet's  sting,  as  in  a  woman's 
heart ;  "  and  the  Italians  say  that  "  it  is  better 
to  irritate  a  dog  than  a  bad  woman,"  which  is 
similar  to  the  German  saying,  "  An  ill-tempered 
woman  is  the  devil's  door-nail."  According  to  a 
familiar  adage  : — 

"  A  wicked  woman  and  an  evil 
Is  three-halfpence  worse  than  the  devil," 
84 


Bad  Women  85 


which  is  to  the  same  effect  as  the  oft-quoted 
proverb,  "A  woman  and  her  servant,  acting  in 
accord,  would  outwit  a  dozen  devils ; "  or,  as 
another  version  has  it,  "  A  woman  is  some  nine 
points  worse  than  than  the  devil,"  being  much  to 
the  same  purport  as  the  Italian  proverb,  "  Women 
know  a  point  more  than  the  devil ;  "  and  to  Con- 
greve's  adaptation  of  Ovid's  lines  : — 

"  Would  you  increase  the  craft  of  womankind, 
Teach  them  new  wiles  and  arts  ?     As  well  you  may 
Instruct  a  snake  to  bite  or  wolf  to  prey ;  " 

all  of  which  may  be  supplemented  by  Victor 
Hugo's  words,  "  Men  are  women's  playthings, 
women  are  the  devil's  ;  "  for  as  our  own  proverb 
says,  "  She-devils  are  hard  to  turn." 

In  the  "  Hitopadesa," —  one  of  the  choice 
treasure-houses  of  Sanskrit  wisdom — it  is  de- 
clared that,  "  Infidelity,  violence,  deceit,  envy, 
extreme  avariciousness,  a  total  want  of  qualities, 
with  impurity,  are  the  innate  faults  of  woman- 
kind ;  "  with  which  may  be  compared  Goethe's 
views,  "  When  we  speed  to  the  devil's  house 
woman  takes  the  lead  by  a  thousand  steps  ;  "  and 
there  is  a  Sinhalese  adage,  "  If  you  want  to  go  to 
the  gallows  without  the  aid  of  a  ladder,  you  can 
go  by  the  aid  of  a  woman." 

There  is  a  proverbial  saying  in  Leicestershire, 
"  Shay's  as  nasty  as  a  devil  unknobbed,"  i.e.,  a 
devil  who  has  either  never  had  any  knobs  fastened 
on  his  horns,  or  else  has  succeeded  in  getting  rid 
of    them ;     the    phrase    illustrating    the    bovine 


86  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

character  of  the  popular  devil ; I  all  of  which 
statements  recall  the  passage  in  Beaumont  and 
Fletcher's  comedy  of  Monsieur  Thomas  (act  iii. 
sc.  i)  : — 

"  Oh,  woman,  perfect  woman  !  what  distraction 
Was  meant  to  mankind  when  thou  wast  made  a  devil  ! 
What  an  inviting  hell  invented." 

According  to  Hindustani  proverbial  lore,  <l  the 
elder  sister-in-law  is  the  devil's  wand,  when  you 
see  her  she  stands  as  straight  as  an  arrow,"  the 
meaning  being  that  she  is  the  chief  disturber  or 
the  family  peace  ;  and  by  a  well-known  Oriental 
adage  a  very  bad  woman  is  spoken  of  as  "  the 
devil's  aunt."  Marathi  proverbial  wisdom  says 
that  in  one  fair  woman  there  are  seventy-two 
hidden  vices,"  and  that  when  she  has  had  her  fill 
of  wickedness  she  takes  to  religion,  and  we  may 
quote  the  Sindhi  proverb,  "  Women,  land,  and 
money  are  all  three  homes  of  death  " — in  other 
words,  they  are  the  causes  of  many  murders. 
An  old  Latin  proverb  goes  so  far  as  to  say  that 
"  when  a  woman  is  openly  bad  she  is  then  at  her 
best  ;  "  another  one  illustrating  the  same  idea  in  a 
different  wording,  "  A  wicked  woman  is  a  maga- 
zine of  evils."  It  is  further  said  that  "  it  is 
better  to  dwell  with  a  dragon  than  with  a 
wicked  woman  ; "  and  there  is  some  truth  in  this 
warning  if  the  subjoined  couplet  be  correct  : — 

"  For  woman's  soul  when  once  plunged  in 
Knows  no  stopping  place  in  sin." 

1  A.  B.  Evans,  "Leicestershire  Words,  Phrases,  and 
Proverbs,"  1881,  p.  282. 


Bad  Women  87 


Alexander  Dumas  puts  into  the  mouth  of  an 
officer  of  the  Paris  detective  force  the  well-known 
expression,  "  Cherchez  la  femme  " — "  Search  for 
the  women " — which  corresponds  with  our 
saying,  "  Wherever  there  is  anything  wrong 
there  is  generally  a  woman  in  the  case,"  or  as 
Richardson  says,  u  A  plot  must  have  a  woman 
in  it."  Sardou,  it  may  be  remembered,  intro- 
duces the  phrase  in  his  drama  "  Ferreol ; "  and 
George  Ebers  ("  Uarda,"  vol.  ii.  cap.  14)  says  : — 

"  You  forget  that  there  is  a  woman  in  this. 
That  is  so  all  the  world  over,  replied  Ameni." 

Sometimes  the  expression  takes  the  form  of,  "  Ou 
est  la  femme  ?  " — "  Where  is  the  woman  ? 
Where  is  she  ?     What  is  her  name  ?  " 

Again,  it  is  said,  "  Women  are  saints  in  the 
church,  angels  in  the  street,  devils  in  the  kitchen, 
and  apes  in  bed,"  a  saying  which,  says  Hazlitt, 
"  is  rather  elaborately  illustrated  in  Jacques 
Olivier's  work  entitled  *  L'Alphabet  de  l'lm- 
perfection  des  Femmes,'  which  was  first  pub- 
lished about  the  year  1617  ;  "  and  which  reminds 
us  of  the  adage,  "  Women  are  demons  who  make 
us  enter  hell  through  the  gates  of  Paradise." 
There  are  many  proverbs  to  the  same  purport, 
some  of  which  are  couched  in  stronger  language 
than  others.  Thus  one  much  used,  in  days  gone 
by,  amongst  the  peasantry  throughout  the  country 
says  : — 

"  A  woman  that  is  wilful  is  a  plague  of  the  worst  ; 
As  well  live  in  hell  as  with  a  wit  that  is  curst." 


88  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

And,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  fair  sex  have  from 
the  earliest  period  been  regarded  as  mischievous, 
we  find  them  styled  "  the  devil's  tools  "  and  "  the 
devil's  nets" — a  host  of  other  uncomplimentary 
epithets  having  been  applied  to  them  for  which, 
it  must  be  acknowledged,  there  is  little  or  no 
warranty.  Pope  says,  "  Every  woman  is  at  heart 
a  rake,"  and  Lord  Lytton  in  his  "  Lady  of 
Lyons  "  : — 

"  Thou  art  the  author 
Of  such  a  book  of  follies  in  a  man, 
That  it  would  need  the  tears  of  all  the  angels, 
To  blot  the  record  out  !  " 

with  which  may  be  compared  the  popular  saying, 
"  When  a  woman  thinks  by  herself  she  thinks  or 
evil,"  and  with  the  Italian  saying,  "  It  is  vain  to 
watch  a  really  bad  woman."  There  can  be  no 
doubt,  however,  that  in  many  of  the  allusions  or 
this  kind  relating  to  women  justice  has  not  been 
done  to  them,  and  there  is  some  reason  in  the 
proverb  of  the  Italian  sisterhood,  "  In  men  every 
mortal  sin  is  venial  ;  in  women  every  venial  sin  is 
mortal." 

Amongst  some  of  the  bad  qualities  condemned 
in  women,  and  against  which  man  is  warned  in 
our  proverbial  literature,  may  be  mentioned 
intemperance,  and  loose  morals.  According  to 
one  folk-rhyme — 

"  Women  and  wine,  game,  and  deceit, 
Make  the  wealth  small,  and  the  wants  great  " — 

which  is  told  in  various  ways.     In  an  old  manu- 


Bad  Women  89 


script  of  the  fifteenth  century  five  evils  to  be 
avoided  are  thus  summed  up  : — 

"  A  young  man  a  ruler,  reckless  ; 
An  old  man  a  lecher,  loveless ; 
A  poor  man  a  waster,  good-less  ; 
A  rich  man  a  thief,  needless ; 
A  woman  a  ribald,  shameless  : 
These  five  shall  never  thrive  blameless." 

Another  version  evidently  of  this  old  proverbial 
maxim  communicated  to  Current  Notes  for 
December,   1853,  runs  thus: — 

"  A  wife  that  is  unchaste  is  like  a  filthy  sow  ; 
An  old  man  a  lecher  nothing  more  to  be  hated  ; 
A  woman  unshamefast,  a  child  unchastised, 
Is  worse  than  gall,  where  poison  is  undesired." 

Similarly  one  or  Heywood's  proverbs  tells  us 
how — 

"  Gaming,  women,  and  wine, 
While  they  laugh,  they  make  men  pine  ;  " 

with  which  may  be  compared  the  adage,  "  Play, 
women,  and  wine  undo  men  laughing  ;  "  or,  as 
another  version  has  it,  "  Women,  money,  and 
wine,  have  their  good  and  their  pine."  But  the 
illustrations  already  given  show  that  some  of  the 
most  severe  strictures  passed  on  women  are  those 
which  relate  to  unchastity,  one  or  two  further 
instances  of  which  we  subjoin  : — 

^  "  An  unchaste  wife,  working  mischief  still, 
Is  oft  compared  to  a  foul  dunghill." 


90  Folk- Lore  of  Women 


And- 


"  A  woman  that  spins  in  vice 
Has  her  smock  full  of  lice." 


Again,  we  are  told  that  "  A  fair  woman  without 
virtue  is  like  palled  wine  ; "  an  Arabian  version 
being,  "  An  immodest  woman  is  food  without 
bait ;  "  or,  as  it  is  thus  said  in  some  country 
villages,  "A  fair  woman  with  foul  conditions 
is  like  a  sumptuous  sepulchre,  full  of  corrup- 
tion ; "  and  further,  "  She  that  loseth  her  modesty 
and  honesty  hath  nothing  else  worth  losing  ; 
reminding  us  of  the  warning  often  given  to  those 
about  to  get  married,  "  A  fair  face  may  be  a  foul 
bargain,"  inasmuch  as — 

"  There  cannot  be  a  greater  clog  to  man, 
Than  to  be  weary  of  a  wanton  woman." 

The  Scotch  say,  "  Ye  may  drive  the  deil  into 
a  wife,  but  ye'll  ne'er  ding  him  oot  o'  her," 
implying  that  when  a  woman  is  once  bad  there 
is  no  chance  of  reclaiming  her  ;  and  hence  we 
cannot  be  surprised  at  the  German  proverb,  "A 
bag  of  fleas  is  easier  to  keep  guard  over  than 
a  woman." 

But,  whether  we  regard  women  as  good  or  bad, 
it  is  generally  agreed  they  surpass  man  in  either 
case,  for,  as  the  French  say,  "  Women,  ever  in 
extremes,  are  always  either  better  or  worse  than 
men,"  with  which  may  be  compared  the  following 
lines  in  Lord  Tennyson's  "  Idylls,"  "  Merlin  and 
Vivien  ": — 

"  For  men  at  most  differ  as  Heaven  and  Earth, 
But  women,  worst  and  best,  as  Heaven  and  Hell." 


Bad  Women  91 


Occasionally  old  local  rhymes  allude  in  somewhat 
uncomplimentary  language  to  the  bad  qualities  of 
the  fair  sex.  The  island  of  Iona  is  separated 
from  Mull  by  a  strait  about  a  mile  long.  An 
islet  close  to  the  Mull  shore  opposite  the  ruins 
of  Iona  is  designated  "  The  Woman's  Island," 
owing  to  a  tradition  of  Columba  that  he  would 
not  allow  a  woman  or  a  cow  to  remain  on  his  own 
island.  The  reason  assigned  for  this  ungracious 
command  is  embodied  in  an  old  folk-rhyme: — 

"  Where  there  is  a  cow, 
There  will  be  a  woman  ; 
And  where  there  is  a  woman, 
There  will  be  mischief" — 

a  saying  which,  we  are  told,  is  in  certain  parts 
of  Scotland  repeated  as  a  good-humoured  satire 
on  women. 

It  has  long  been  admitted,  even  by  those  who 
disparage  women's  virtues,  that  her  memory  is 
excellent  when  she  is  anxious  to  keep  anything 
in  mind,  and  hence  it  is  said  that  "  if  a  woman 
has  any  malicious  mischief  to  do  her  memory  is 
immortal."  Proverbial  wisdom,  again,  tells  how 
worthless  and  unprincipled  women  often  amuse 
themselves  by  dissimulation,  even  going  so  far 
as  to  feign  love  :  an  apt  illustration  of  such  sham 
love  from  Hindustani  proverb  runs  thus,  "  I'll 
love  him  and  I'll  caress  him  and  I'll  put  fire 
under  him  ;  if  it  burn  him  what  can  I  do  ?  "  I 
and  there  is  a  well-known  Arabic  adage  which 
warns  us  that,  "  Women's  immorality  and  monks' 
wiles  are  to  be  dreaded." 

1  See  Fallon's  "  Hindustani  Proverbs." 


CHAPTER     VIII 


WOMAN  S    LOVE 

"There  is  no  paradise  on  earth  equal  to  the  union  of  love 
and  innocence." — Rousseau. 

ACCORDING  to  Lord  Byron,  "  Man's  love 
is  of  man's  life  a  thing  apart ;  'tis  woman's 
whole  existence  ;  "  and  under  a  thousand  images 
the  poets  of  all  ages  have  depicted  her  as  a 
mysterious  mixture  of  joy  and  sadness,  of  agony 
and  delight.  But  the  truth  of  the  well-known 
apothegm  cannot  be  denied,  "  'Tis  love,  'tis 
love  that  makes  the  world  go  round,"  for  : — 

"  Love  rules  the  court,  the  camp,  the  grove, 
And  men  below  and  saints  above  ; 
For  love  is  heaven,  and  heaven  is  love." 


It  is  only  natural  that  much  should  have  been 
written  on  woman's  love — that  inexhaustible  theme 
which  will  continue  to  hold  its  sway  till  the  end  of 
time  ;  for,  as  it  was  long  ago  said,  "A  woman  will 


99 


Woman  s  Love 


93 


dare  anything  when  she  loves  or  hates."  And  yet, 
strange  to  say,  it  must  be  acknowledged  the  love 
of  woman  has  always  been  more  or  less  enigmatical 
in  the  eyes  of  man,  on  account  of  its  only  too 
often  eccentric  and  contradictory  nature.  Thus 
Middleton  speaks  of  love's  strange  antics  : — 

"  Love  is  ever  sick,  and  yet  is  never  dying, 
Love  is  ever  true,  and  yet  is  ever  lying ; 
Love  does  doat  in  liking,  and  is  mad  in  loathing  : 
Love,  indeed,  is  anything  ;  yet,  indeed,  is  nothing." 

Southwell  describes  a  woman's  loving  looks  as 
"  murdering  darts,"  and  elsewhere  he  says  : — 

"  She  offereth  joy,  but  bringeth  grier, 
A  kiss — where  she  doth  kill." 

The  hesitancy  with  which  a  woman  furtively, 
and  oftentimes  playfully,  tries  to  conceal  her  love 
by  a  slight  cough,  has  from  an  early  period  been 
humorously  recognised  in  proverbial  love,  as  in 
the  old  adage, "  Love  and  a  cough  cannot  be  hid," 
the  Latin  equivalent  of  which  is,  "Amor  tussis 
que  non  celantur,"  versions  of  which  are  to 
be  met  with  in  French  and  Italian  proverbs.1 
Similarly  we  may   compare  the   proverb  : — 

"  When  a  musician  hath  forgot  his  note, 
He  makes  as  though  a  crumb  stuck  in  his  throat." 

Thackeray  has  described  "  the  delights  and 
tortures,  the  jealousy  and  wakefulness,  the  longing 
and    raptures,    the    frantic    despair    and    elation, 

1  See  Hazlitt's  "English  Proverbs,"  1869,  p.  269. 


94  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

attendant  upon  the  passion  of  love  ;  "  and, 
indeed,  volumes  might  be  written  illustrative 
of  the  mysterious  workings  of  woman's  love, 
although  Alphonse  Karr  went  so  far  as  to  affirm : 
rt  Women  for  the  most  part  do  not  love  us.  They 
do  not  choose  a  man  because  they  love  him,  but 
because  it  pleases  them  to  be  loved  by  him."  But, 
whatever  may  have  been  written  descriptive  of 
love,  its  influence  is  indisputable,  and  as  the 
Scotch  say,  "  Love  is  as  warm  amang  cottars  as 
courtiers  ; "  and,  as  it  has  been  truly  said  : — 

"  The  rose  blooms  gay  on  shairney  brae, 
As  weel's  in  briken  shaw  ; 
And  love  will  lowe  in  cottage  low, 
As  weel's  in  lofty  ha'  ;  " 

with  which  may  be  compared  the  English 
equivalent,  "  Love  lives  in  cottages  as  well  as 
in  courts." 

Proverbial  literature  naturally  has  much  to  say 
on  the  power  of  a  woman's  love,  and,  according  to 
a  popular  French  adage,  "  Love  subdues  all  but 
the  ruffian's  heart  ; "  and  history  abounds  in 
illustrations  of  this  maxim,  which  under  a  variety 
of  forms  is  found  all  over  the  world,  one  of  the 
best-known  versions  being,  "  Love  rules  his 
kingdom  without  a  sword." 

And  yet  it  is  agreed  that  woman's  love  is  only 
too  frequently  far  from  kind,  for,  as  it  was  pro- 
verbially said  by  our  forefathers,  "  Love  is  a 
sweet  tyranny,  because  the  lover  endureth  his 
torments  willingly."  The  French  have  a  proverb 
to  the  same   effect  :    "  He  who  has    love    in    his 


Woman  s  Love  95 

heart  has  spurs  in  his  sides,"  the  chief  reason  for 
this  being  the  anxiety  of  the  fair  sex  to  show  their 
mastery  over  man  ;  for,  like  St.  Augustine,  they 
have  always  been  of  opinion  that  "  he  that  is  not 
jealous  is  not  in  love."  Hence  a  woman  is  fond 
of  testing  her  lover's  faith  by  kindling  his  jealousy, 
adhering  to  the  time-honoured  proverb,  "  There 
is  no  love  without  jealousy."  On  the  other  hand, 
we  are  told  that  "  Love  expels  jealousy,"  and, 
according  to  an  Italian  belief,  "  It  is  better  to 
have  a  husband  without  love  than  with  jealousy," 
which  calls  to  mind  Iago's  words  ("  Othello," 
act  iii.  sc.  3)  : — 

"  O,  beware,  my  lord,  of  jealousy, 
It  is  the  green-eyed  monster  which  doth  mock 
The  meat  it  feeds  on." 

But  jealousy  is  not  confined  to  either  sex,  for — 

"The  venom  clamours  of  a  jealous  woman 
Poison  more  deadly  than  a  mad  dog's  tooth"." 

But  it  is  generally  agreed  that  there  is  nothing 
worse  than  a  jealous  woman,  and  a  piece  of 
African  proverbial  wisdom  tells  us  that  "  a  jealous 
woman  has  no  flesh  upon  her  breast ;  for,  however 
much  she  may  feed  upon  jealousy,  she  will  never 
have  enough." 

And  yet,  although  French  romance  is  full  of 
the  tortures  which  lovers  have  experienced  from 
the  fair  sex,  it  is  said  : — 

"Amour,  tous  les  autres  plaisirs 
Ne  valent  pas  tes  peines," 


96  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

which  has  been  translated  thus  :  "  O  Love,  thy 
pains  are  worth  more  than  all  other  pleasures  " — 
a  statement  which  is  much  open  to  doubt. 

Again,  woman's  love  when  it  "  comes  apace " 
is  to  be  avoided  as  untrustworthy  and  likely  as 
suddenly  to  wane  ;  on  which  account  it  is 
commonly  said,  "  Hasty  love  is  iron  hot  and 
iron  cold."  In  "  Ralph  Roister  Doister,"  written 
about  the  year  1550,  Christian  Custance  says: 
"  Gay  love,  God  save  it !  So  soon  hot,  so  soon 
cold."  But  the  love  which  lasts  is  that  recom- 
mended in  one  of  Hey  wood's  proverbs,  "Love  me 
little,  love  me  long,"  which  Hazlitt  mentions  as 
the  title  of  an  old  ballad  licensed  to  W.  Griffith 
in  1 569-1 570. 

Woman's  love  has  ever  been  open  to  reproach 
as  being  fickle  and  unstable,  and  Southey,  quoting 
the  popular  sentiment,  says  : — 

"  There  are  three  things  a  wise  man  will  not  trust, 
The  wind,  the  sunshine  of  an  April  day, 
And  woman's  plighted  faith  ;  " 

further  instances  of  which  trait  or  character  will 
be  found  elsewhere,  where  we  have  dealt  with 
the  fickleness  of  the  fair  sex.  But  the  swain  who 
is  disheartened  by  his  lady-love's  coquetry,  and 
is  afraid  of  losing  her  through  excessive  wooing, 
folk-lore  admonishes  him  thus  : — 

"  Follow  love  and  it  will  flee  ; 
Flee  love,  and  it  will  follow  thee." 

Indeed  satirists  have  long  since  told  us,  in  most 
countries,  the    folly  of  believing    in    a   woman's 


Woman  s  Love  gy 


expression  of  love,  as  "  the  last  suitor  wins  the 
maid  " — an  adage  which  has  also  been  expressed 
in  this  proverbial  couplet  : — 

"  The  love  of  a  woman  and  a  bottle  of  wine, 
Are  sweet  for  a  season  and  last  for  a  time." 

and  it  has  been  suggested  that  it  was  owing  to 
woman's  fickleness  that  the  saying  originated, 
"  Happy  is  the  wooing  that  is  not  long  in  doing  " 
— the  prudent  man  thereby  not  giving  her  the 
opportunity  of  changing  her  mind. 

But  fickle  and  unstable  as  a  woman's  love 
probably  may  be,  there  is  no  gainsaying  its  power, 
and  in  China  it  is  said  of  a  woman  who  captivates 
a  man,  "  With  one  smile  she  overthrows  a  city  ; 
with  another  a  kingdom."  According  to  the 
popular  tradition  this  proverb  originated  in  the 
following  circumstance  : — A  certain  lady  named 
Hsi-Shih,  the  concubine  of  Fu  Cha,  King  of  the 
ancient  State  of  Wu.  She  was  eminently  beautiful, 
and  her  beauty  so  captivated  her  lord  that  for 
her  sake  he  neglected  the  affairs  of  his  kingdom, 
which  in  consequence  fell  into  disorder  and  ruin. 

Whatever  the  value  either  of  a  woman's  love 
or  beauty,  the  folk-tales  of  most  countries  agree 
in  one  respect — the  exacting  conditions  demanded 
of  the  suitor,  as  a  price  for  gaining  his  heart's 
desire,  although,  under  a  variety  of  forms,  the 
subjoined  couplet  is  no  doubt  founded  on  the 
experience  of  womanhood  : — ■ 

"  Lads'  love  is  lassies'  delight, 
And  if  lads  don't  love,  lasses  will  flite  [scold]" 

8 


98  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

And  yet,  according  to  a  common  piece  of  West 
African  wisdom,  "  If  thou  givest  thy  heart  to  a 
woman  she  will  kill  thee."  Wanting  in  chivalry, 
as  many  such  proverbs  are,  there  is  one  current 
in  China,  the  truth  and  wisdom  of  which  most 
persons  will  endorse  :  "  Where  true  love  exists 
between  husbands  and  wives,  they're  happily 
joined  to  the  end  of  their  lives." 


CHAPTER    IX 


WOMAN  S     HATE 

"  Not  even  the  soldiers'  fury,  raised  in  war, 
The  rage  of  tyrants  when  defiance  stings  'em  ! 
The  pride  of  priests,  so  bloodless  when  in. power, 
Are  half  so  dreadful  as  a  woman's  vengeance." 

Savage. 


IT  is  generally  agreed  that  a  thing  to  be 
avoided  by  man  at  any  cost  is  a  woman's 
hatred ;  although,  according  to  Walter  Savage 
Landor,  "  No  friendship  is  so  cordial  or  so  sweet 
as  that  of  a  girl  for  a  girl  ;  no  hatred  so  intense 
or  immovable  as  that  of  woman  for  woman." 
And  the  dislike  of  one  woman  for  another  is 
mostly  attributed  to  jealousy ;  for,  according  to  a 
common  French  proverb,  "  It  is  the  men  who 
cause  the  women  to  dislike  each  other." 

But,  as  it  has  been  observed,  "  The  anger  of  a 
woman  is  the  greatest  evil  with  which  one  can 
threaten  enemies,  especially  as  proverbial  experi- 
ence tells  us  that  "  A  woman  is  more  constant  in 
hate  than  in  love  ;"  a  maxim  which  has  additional 


9Q 


ioo  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

warning  when  it  is  remembered  that  "  No  woman 
is  too  silly  not  to  have  a  genius  for  spite  " — added 
to  which  may  be  quoted  this  piece  of  German 
proverb  lore  :  "  A  woman's  vengeance  knows  no 
bounds  ;  "  and,  again  :  "  A  woman,  when  inflamed 
by  love  or  hatred,  will  do  anything."  To  the 
same  effect  is  the  French  saying  :  "  Women's 
counsels  are  ever  cruel,"  the  warning  being  added 
that  "  you  should  believe  only  one  word  in  forty 
that  a  woman  speaks,"  a  fact  which  is  said  to  be 
specially  true  when  she  is  anxious  to  emphasise 
her  expressions  of  hatred  against  her  unfortunate 
victim. 

And  we  are  reminded  that  the  hate  of  a  woman 
is  all  the  more  to  be  dreaded,  for  even  when  at  her 
best  we  are  told  that  "  Women  like  good  wine 
are  a  secret  poison,"  and  that  a  whereas  women's 
love  is  dangerous,  their  hate  is  fatal." 

This  view,  too,  is  the  same  everywhere,  and  a 
well-known  Hindustani  maxim  tells  us  that  "  the 
rage  of  a  woman,  a  player,  and  a  bull  is  something 
dreadful ;  "  but  it  consoles  us  by  adding  that  "  A 
woman's  threats  and  goblin's  stones  break  no 
bones." 

And,  as  in  love,  so  in  hate,  a  woman  is  mentally 
proverbially  blind,  seeing  nothing  but  what  is 
thoroughly  bad  in  the  object  of  her  hatred  ;  and 
hence  the  popular  proverb,  of  which  there  are 
many  versions  :  "  Hatred  is  blind  as  well  as  love." 


CHAPTER   X 


LOVE    TESTS 


"  'Twas  the  maiden's  matchless  beauty 
That  drew  my  heart  a-nigh  ; 
Not  the  fern-root  potion, 

But  the  glance  in  her  blue  eye." 

IT  has  been  remarked  that  one  of  the  grandest 
musical  works  in  existence  would  never  have 
been  written  had  not  Tristram  and  Ysonde  drank 
the  magic  potion,  which  was  so  strong  that  it 
united  them  even  after  death  ;  for  from  his  grave 
there  grew  an  eglantine,  which  twined  about 
Ysonde's  statue  above,  and,  though  three  times 
they  cut  it  down,  it  grew  again,  and  ever  wound 
its  arms  round  the  image  of  the  fair  Ysonde. 

As  a  means  of  inspiring  and  securing  love, 
amatory  potions  and  love  charms  of  all  kinds 
have  been  much  in  request  amongst  the  fair  sex  ; 
and  even,  at  the  present  day,  cases  occur  now  and 
again  of  persons  being  fined  for  either  selling,  or 
persuading  lovesick  damsels  to  purchase,  various 
mysterious  compounds  for  influencing  the  affec- 


102  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

tions  of  others.  Going  back  to  early  times,  it  is 
well  known  that  the  Roman  poet  Lucretius  took 
his  life  in  an  amorous  fit  caused  by  a  love  potion, 
and  Lucullus  lost  his  reason  in  the  same  way.  In 
the  Middle  Ages  love-powders  were  advertised  for 
sale,  the  pernicious  effects  of  which  became  a  matter 
of  serious  comment. 

Shakespeare  has  represented  Othello  as  winning 
Desdemona  by  such  means  : — 

"  She  is  abused,  stolen  from  me,  and  corrupted 
By  spells  of  medicines  bought  of  mountebanks." 

Formerly  the  village  apothecary  kept  love- 
philtres  among  his  stock  of  drugs  ;  and  Gay,  in 
his  "  Shepherds'  Week,"  tells  how  Hobnelia  was 
guilty  of  resorting  to  this  questionable  practice  : — 

"  As  I  was  wont,  I  trudged,  last  market-day, 
To  town  with  new-laid  eggs,  preserved  in  hay  ; 
I  made  my  market  long  before  'twas  night, 
My  purse  grew  heavy,  and  my  basket  light. 
Straight  to  the  'pothecary  shop  I  went, 
And  in  love-powder  all  my  money  spent. 
Behap  what  will,  next  Sunday,  after  prayers, 
When  to  the  ale-house  Lubberkin  repairs, 
These  golden  flies  into  his  mug  I'll  throw, 
And  soon  the  swain  with  fervent  love  shall  glow." 

Similarly,  in  the  "  Character  of  a  Quack  Astro- 
loger," published  in  the  year  1673,  we  are  told 
how  "  He  induces  a  young  heiress  to  run  away 
with  a  footman  by  persuading  a  young  girl  'tis  her 
destiny,  and  sells  the  old  and  ugly  philtres  and 
love-powder  to  procure  them  sweethearts." 

In   the   preparation   of   the  love-philtre,   much 


Love   Tests 


importance  has  been  attached  to  the  ingredients 
used  in  its  composition,  certain  plants  and  animals 
having  been  supposed  to  be  specially  adapted  for 
such  a  purpose.  Italian  girls,  for  instance,  still 
practise  the  following  method  :  A  lizard  is  caught, 
drowned  in  wine,  dried  in  the  sun,  and  reduced  to 
powder,  some  of  which  is  thrown  on  the  obdurate 
man,  who  thenceforth  is  hers  for  evermore.  A 
favourite  Slavonic  device  with  a  lovesick  girl,  writes 
Mr.  Finck,  in  his  "  Romantic  Love  and  Personal 
Beauty,"  "  is  to  cut  the  finger,  let  a  few  drops  of 
her  blood  run  into  a  glass  of  beer,  and  make  the 
adored  man  drink  it  unknowingly.  The  same 
method  is  current  in  Hesse  and  Oldenburg  ;  and 
in  Bohemia,  the  girl  who  is  afraid  to  wound  her 
finger  may  substitute  a  few  drops  of  bat's  blood." 

Another  form  of  this  mode  of  procedure  prac- 
tised by  girls  on  the  Continent  is  this  :  "  Take  a 
holy  wafer,  but  which  has  not  yet  been  consecrated, 
write  on  it  certain  words  from  the  ring-finger,  and 
then  let  a  priest  say  five  masses  over  it  ;  divide  the 
wafer  into  two  equal  parts,  of  which  keep  one,  and 
give  the  other  to  the  person  whose  love  you  desire 
to  gain." 

Flowers  have  been  much  in  request  as  love- 
philtres,  a  favourite  one  having  been  the  pansy. 
Oberon  tells  Puck  to  place  a  pansy  on  the  eyes  of 
Titania  in  order  that  on  awaking  she  may  fall  in 
love  with  the  first  object  she  meets  : — 

"  Fetch  me  that  flower — the  herb  I  showed  thee  once  ; 
The  juice  of  it  on  sleeping  eyelids  laid 
Will  make  a  man,  or  woman,  madly  dote 
Upon  the  next  live  creature  that  it  sees." 


104  Folk-Lore  of  Women 

Vervain  has  long  been  in  repute  as  a  love- 
producer,  and  in  many  rural  districts  has  the 
reputation  amongst  the  fair  sex  of  securing 
affection  from  those  who  take  it  to  those  who 
administer  it.  Another  ingredient  of  the  amatory 
potion  once  highly  prized  was  cumin-seed.  It  is 
still  popular  with  country  lasses  in  Italy,  who 
endeavour  to  make  their  sweethearts  swallow  it 
in  order  to  insure  their  continued  attachment  and 
fidelity.  Or  if  the  lover  is  going  to  serve  as  a 
soldier,  or  has  obtained  employment  in  a  distant 
part  of  the  country,  his  lady-love  gives  him  a 
newly-made  loaf  seasoned  with  cumin,  or  some 
wine  in  which  cumin  has  been  previously  powdered 
and  mixed. 

Another  mystic   plant    is    the    basil,   which    in 
Moldavia  is  said  to  stop  the  wandering  youth  on 
his  way,  and  to  make  him  love  the  maiden  from 
whose  hand  he  happens  to  accept  a  sprig.     Indeed, 
rarely  does  the  Italian  girl  pay  a  visit  to  her  sweet- 
heart without  wearing  behind  her  ear  a  sprig  of 
this   favourite    plant.      The   mandrake,   which    is 
still  worn  in  France  as  a  love-charm,  was  formerly 
in  demand  by  English  girls  for  the  same  purpose, 
because,  writes  Gerarde,   "It  hath  been   thought 
that  the  root  hereof  serveth  to  win  love."     He 
also  speaks  of  the   carrot  as  "Serving   for    love 
matters,"    and    adds    that    the  root    of  the   wild 
species  is  more  effectual  than  that  of  the  garden. 
The    root     of    the     male-fern     was,    in     days 
gone    by,    much    sought    for    in   the    preparation 
of  love-philtres,   and    hence    the    following   allu- 
sion : — 


Love   Tests  105 


"  'Twas  the  maiden's  matchless  beauty 
That  drew  my  heart  a-nigh  ; 
Not  the  fern-rood  potion, 

But  the  glance  of  her  blue  eye." 

With  Indian  women  the  mango  is  a  favourite 
plant  in  love  matters.  Tradition  tells  how  once 
upon  a  time  a  young  girl  plucked  one  of  its 
blossoms,  and  offered  it  to  Cupid,  uttering  these 
words  : — 

"God  of  the  bow,  who  with  spring's  choicest  flowers 
Dost  point  the  five  unerring  shafts  ;  to  thee 
I  dedicate  this  blossom  ;  let  it  serve 
To  barb  thy  truest  arrow  ;  be  its  mark 
Some  youthful  heart  that  pines  to  be  beloved." 

The  jasmine,  too,  is  reputed  to  be  all  potent  in 
love  matters  ;  and  it  may  be  remembered  how 
Moore  represents  the  enchantress  Namouna,  who 
was  skilled  in  all  manner  of  charms  and  talismans, 
instructing  Nourmahal  to  gather  at  midnight 
certain  blossoms  which  would  have  the  effect, 
when  twined  into  a  wreath,  of  recalling  her  Selim's 
love.  Accordingly,  the  flowers  having  been  duly 
gathered  as  directed,  the  enchantress  Namouna, 
whilst  singing  the  following  invocatory  lines, 
weaves  the  mystic  chaplet  which  is  to  have  such 
wondrous  influence  : — 

"  The  image  of  love,  that  nightly  flies 

To  visit  the  bashful  maid, 
Steals  from  the  jasmine  flower,  that  sighs 

Its  soul,  like  hers,  in  the  shade. 
The  dream  of  a  future,  or  happier,  hour 

That  alights  on  misery's  brow, 
Springs  out  of  the  almond  silvery  flower, 

That  blooms  on  a  leafless  bough.'" 


106  Folk-Lore  of  Women 

Beans,  again,  are  said  to  have  been  accounted 
efficacious  by  women  as  love-producers.  An 
amusing  case  is  recorded  of  an  old  woman  who 
was  scourged  through  the  streets  of  Cremona  for 
having  endeavoured  to  conciliate  the  affections  of 
a  young  man  through  the  medium  of  some  beans 
over  which  mass  had  been  said.  In  short,  all 
kinds  of  ingredients  appear  to  have  been  used  in 
the  preparation  of  these  amatory  spells,  and  it  is 
recorded  how  a  young  woman,  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  was  indicted  by  the  legal  authorities  of 
Leipsic  for  administering  a  love-philtre  composed 
of  bread,  hair,  and  nails  to  a  man  whom  it,, 
seriously  affected. 

Occasionally  confidence  was  reposed  in  the 
power  of  written  charms  which  were  administered 
in  drink,  or  food,  to  the  person  whose  love  it  was 
desired  to  secure.  Thus  the  story  is  told  how  a 
young  man,  passionately  enamoured  of  a  damsel 
of  Gaza,  having  failed  in  the  usual  amatory  charms, 
repaired  to  the  priests  of  ^Esculapius,  at  Memphis, 
from  whom  he  acquired  mystic  powers.  On  re- 
turning after  a  year's  absence,  he  introduced 
certain  magical  words  and  figures  cut  on  Cyprian 
brass  beneath  the  lady's  door.  The  contrivance 
had  the  desired  effect,  for  soon  she  began  to  rave 
on  his  name,  "  to  wander  with  uncovered  head, 
and  dishevelled  hair,  for  she  had  become  distracted 
through  the  vehemence  of  love." 

But  cases  of  this  kind  were  not  always  attended 
with  the  same  success.  We  are  told,  for  instance, 
how  a  Norwegian  peasant,  whose  suit  had  been 
rejected,  sought  to  inspire  the  lady  he  loved  with 


.ove 


Tests 


107 


corresponding  affection  by  mystical  means.  So 
he  carved  Runic  characters  on  pieces  of  wood  ; 
but  not  being  sufficiently  skilful  in  this  mode  of 
talismanic  science,  instead  of  furthering  his  pur- 
pose he  threw  the  damsel  into  a  dangerous  illness. 
Fortunately,  a  Northern  Chief  witnessing  his  suf- 
ferings, and,  hearing  that  Runic  characters  had 
been  carved,  sculptured  those  that  he  considered 
more  appropriate,  which,  being  placed  beneath  her 
pillow,  soon  restored  her  again  to  convalescence. 

It  is  clear  that  there  have  been  no  lack  of 
expedients  either  for  inspiring  or  dispelling  love, 
many  an  amusing  instance  being  given  in  our  old 
romances  and  folk-tales.  It  is  a  Basque  supersti- 
tion that  yellow  hair  in  a  man  is  irresistible  with 
a  woman  ;  hence  every  woman  who  set  eyes  on 
Ezkabi  Fidel,  the  golden-haired,  fell  in  love  with 
him.  We  may  compare  a  curious  Irish  piece  of 
folk-lore  which  has  long '  been  practised.  If  a 
lover  will  run  a  hair  of  the  object  he  loved 
through  the  fleshy  part  of  a  dead  man's  leg,  the 
person  from  whom  the  hair  is  taken  will  go  mad 
with  love. 

Such  a  practice  may  seem  ludicrous,  but  it  can- 
not be  forgotten  how  great  a  hold  it  has  on  the 
female  mind.  How  far  this  was  originally  due  to 
the  stories  circulated  is  a  matter  of  uncertainty  ; 
but  it  is  generally  admitted  that  tales  dealing  with 
the  mystic  powers  of  love,  and  handed  down  with 
every  semblance  of  truth,  have,  in  times  past, 
largely  helped  to  propagate  a  piece  of  folly 
which  has  been  productive  of  so  many  mis- 
chievous effects. 


CHAPTER   XI 


WOMAN    S     SECRETS 


"Search  not  to  find  what  lies  too  deeply  hid, 
Nor  to  know  things  whose  knowledge  is  forbid." 

Denham. 

"  r  r^O  a  woman  and  a  magpie  tell  what  you 
would  speak  in  the  market-place,"  runs 
the  Spanish  proverb — the  reason  being  that  "  a 
woman  only  keeps  secret  what  she  does  not 
know  ;  "  and  therefore  an  old  Latin  maxim 
solemnly  enjoins  us  "  not  to  trust  a  woman  even 
when  dead."  Thus  Hotspur  tells  his  wife  in 
"  I.  Henry  IV."  (act  ii.  sc.  3)  :— 

"  Constant  you  are, 
But  yet  a  woman,  and  for  secrecy 
No  lady  closer  ;  for  I  well  believe 
Thou  wilt  not  utter  what  thou  dost  not  know, 
And  so  far  I  will  trust  thee,  gentle  Kate  ; " 

which,  in  other  words,  is  equivalent  to  the  well- 
known  German  adage,  "A  woman  can't  keep  a 
secret,  nor  let    any    one   else  do    it."      But    this 

108- 


Woman  s  Secrets  109 

maxim  cannot  be  applied  only  to  women,  for,  as 
it  has  been  often  remarked  of  secrets,  both  poli- 
tical and  social,  they  are  only  too  frequently  made 
to  be  revealed,  a  truth  illustrated  by  Ben  Jonson's 
words  in  u  The  Case  is  Unaltered,"  wherein  we 
find  this  passage  :  — 

"A  secret  in  his  mouth 
Ts  like  a  wild  bird  put  into  a  cage, 
Whose  door  no  sooner  opens  but  'tis  out." 

But,  whatever  dependence  is  to  be  placed  on  a 
woman's  reliability  to  keep  to  herself  what  is  told 
in  confidence,  it  has  often  been  remarked  that  she 
can  at  least  keep  her  own  secret,  a  proof  of  which 
will  be  quickly  found  if  any  one  question  her  on 
the  subject  of  her  age. 

Apart  from  this  exception,  a  secret  in  the  keep- 
ing of  a  woman  soon  becomes  what  the  Spanish 
are  accustomed  to  call,  "  The  Secret  of  Anchue- 
los,"  that  is,  one  which  is  known  to  every  one. 
The  town  of  that  name  is  situated  in  a  gorge 
between  two  steep  hills,  on  one  of  which  a 
shepherd  tended  his  flock,  on  the  other  a  shep- 
herdess. This  pair  kept  up  an  amorous  converse 
by  bawling  from  hill  to  hill,  but  always  with  many 
mutual  strict  injunctions  of  secrecy. 

The  inability  of  a  woman  to  keep  silent  what  is 
told  her  in  confidence — even  where  her  husband 
may  be  concerned — is  exemplified  in  the  once 
popular  saying,  "  He  that  tells  his  wife  news  is 
but  lately  married  " — her  indiscretion  in  disclosing 
information  entrusted  to  her  only  too  frequently 
causing    serious    mischief ;    with    which    may    be 


1 10  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

compared  the  Tamil  proverb,  "  Do  not  disclose 
your  secret  to  your  wife,  nor  trust  your  enemy  at 
any  time." 

But  "  A  wise  woman  hath  a  close  mouth," 
which  has  its  equivalent  in  the  French  saying, 
"  Le  plus  sage  se  tait."  According  to  another 
popular  adage,  "  Discreet  women  have  neither 
eyes  nor  ears,"  which  also  has  its  French  parallel, 
u  La  femme  de  bien  n'a  ny  yeux  ny  orelles." 

A  piece  of  proverbial  lore  which  applies  to  each 
sex  is  this  :  "  Tell  your  secret  to  your  servant  and 
you  make  him  your  master " — a  maxim  which 
may  be  traced  to  an  early  period  when,  says  Kelly, 
"  it  was  the  policy  of  the  Greek  adventurers  in 
Rome  to  worm  out  the  secrets  of  the  house,  and 
so  make  themselves  feared.'*  Juvenal  has  referred 
to  this  practice  : — 

"  Poor  simple  Corydon  !   do  you  suppose  , 
Aught  is  kept  secret  that  a  rich  man  does  t 
If  servants  hold  their  tongues,  the  beasts  will  blab, 
The  dog,  the  door-posts,  and  the  marble-slab." 

Similarly,  we  find  the  same  proverb  on  the  Conti- 
nent, "  To  whom  you  tell  your  secret  you  sur- 
render your  freedom  ; "  or,  according  to  another 
version,  "  Tell  your  friend  your  secret,  and  he  will 
set  his  foot  on  your  throat."  And  it  may  be  re- 
membered Dryden  has  introduced  the  same  idea  : — 

"  He  who  trusts  a  secret  to  his  servant, 
Makes  his  own  man  his  master." 

African  folk-lore,  too,  introduces  the  same  idea, 
and  a  popular  proverb  says,  "  If  a  man  tells  his 


Woman  s  Secrets  1 1 1 

secrets  to  his  wife,  she  will  bring  him  into  the  way 
of  Satan,"  which,  it  has  been  remarked,  is  rather 
a  strong  contrast  to  the  English  proverb,  "  He 
who  would  thrive  must  ask  his  wife."  And  again, 
it  is  said,  "  Trust  your  dog  to  the  end,  a  woman 
till  the  first  opportunity." 

As  might  be  supposed,  folk-lore,  at  one  time  or 
another,  has  made  good  use  of  the  value  attaching 
to  secrets  ;  and  stories  of  the  supernatural  in 
romantic  fiction  have  shown  how  the  fair  sex, 
under  the  influence  of  magical  influences,  have 
unknowingly  revealed  the  most  sacred  secrets. 
But  the  moral  of  most  of  these  tales  is  the  same 
— and  may  be  applied  to  either  sex — the  lesson 
conveyed  being  not  to  trust  any  one  ;  for,  as  the 
French  say,  "  the  disclosure  of  a  secret  is  the 
fault  of  him  who  first  disclosed  it" — a  truth, 
indeed,  which  is  only  too  constantly  verified  in 
daily  life  by  mistaken  trust  in  another. 

Women,  it  is  said,  forget  the  important  fact 
that  as  soon  as  a  secret  becomes  the  property  of 
three  persons  it  is  all  the  world's,  which  is  summed 
up  in  a  common  Spanish  adage,  "  What  three 
knows  every  creature  knows  ;  "  whereas  according 
to  the  French  proverb,  "  The  secret  of  two  is 
God's  secret."  The  same  idea  also  exists  in  West 
Africa,  where  this  proverb  is  current  :  u  Trust 
not  a  woman  ;  she  will  tell  thee  what  she  has 
just  told  her  companion,"  and  "  Whatever  be  thy 
intimacy,  never  give  thy  heart  to  a  woman." 

Turning  to  some  of  the  numerous  folk-tales  and 
legendary  stories,  in  which  "  the  secret "  plays  the 
important  part,  there  is  the  famous  one  of  Melu- 


ii2  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

sine,  which  has  been  told  in  many  ways.  Ray- 
mond, Count  of  Lusignan,  was  one  day  hunting 
the  boar  in  the  forest  of  Poitou,  when,  whilst 
wandering  in  the  forest  at  nightfall  through  his 
boar  having  outstripped  his  train,  he  saw  Melusine 
with  her  sisters,  dancing  by  a  fountain  in  the 
moonlight.  Smitten  with  her  beauty,  he  asked 
her  to  marry  him,  to  which  proposal  she  consented 
on  condition  that  he  would  allow  her  to  remain 
secret  and  unseen  every  Sunday.  They  were 
married,  and  her  secret  was  kept  until  one  of 
his  friends  suggested  that  she  only  desired  pri- 
vacy in  order  to  indulge  an  adulterous   passage. 

Raymond  thereupon  burst  into  her  secret  cham- 
ber and  discovered  that  she  was  doomed  to  have 
the  lower  part  of  her  body  transformed  to  that  of 
a  serpent  every  Saturday.  The  secret  broken,  she 
was  compelled,  henceforth,  to  leave  her  husband 
for  ever,  and  to  be  totally  transformed  to  a  ser- 
pent. But  her  spirit  continued  to  haunt  the  Castle 
of  Lusignan  before  the  death  of  any  of  the  lords 
of  that  race. 

Sometimes,  on  the  other  hand,  the  wife  is  the 
transgressor.  In  a  North  German  story  a  wizard 
keeps  a  young  girl  by  force  as  his  wife.  One  day, 
accidentally,  he  lets  out  the  secret  that  his  soul 
resides  in  a  bird,  which  is  locked  up  in  a  church 
in  a  desert  place,  and  that,  until  the  bird  is  killed, 
he  cannot  die.  The  bird  is  killed  by  the  girl's 
lover,  and  the  wizard  dies — a  similar  story  being 
found  in  the  "  Arabian  Nights." 


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CHAPTER   XII 


RED-HAIRED     GIRLS 


"  The  gold  and  topaz  of  the  sun  on  snow 
Are  shade  by  the  bright  hair  above  those  eyes." 

Petrarch. 

WHY  red  hair  has  been  at  a  discount  in  all 
ages  has  perplexed  many  a  chronicler  of 
fashion.  Although,  it  is  true,  artists  have  more 
chivalrously  depicted  its  beauty,  the  reverse  is  the 
case  in  literature.  What  poet,  it  may  be  asked, 
has  ventured  to  sing  of  "  the  fair  one  with  the 
ruddy  ringlets"  in  the  same  way  as  the  charms  of 
the  dark-haired  maiden  have  been  so  often 
described  ? 

Whereas  the  jetty  ringlet  or  flaxen  plait  has 
won  a  thousand  admirers,  the  red-haired  girl 
has  found  herself  persistently  passed  by.  How- 
ever good  and  attractive  her  features,  and  however 
graceful  her  gait  may  be,  she  has  rarely  found  her 
praises  acknowledged.  Fashion,  hitherto,  has 
boycotted  in  a  most  unrelenting  manner  the  girl 

9  «3 


114  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

with  hair  of  reddish  hue  ;  and,  despite  the  fact 
that  in  years  gone  by  many  beautiful  women 
possessed  tresses  of  this  unaristocratic  colour,  it 
still  remains  unpopular. 

It  is  useless  to  urge  in  its  favour  that  Queen 
Elizabeth  considered  herself  to  make  the  best 
appearance  when  wearing  a  red  wig,  and  that 
others,  counting  themselves  stars  of  fashion,  have 
been  of  the  same  opinion  ;  for  there  is  a  deep- 
rooted  and  unaccountable  prejudice  against  this 
much-abused  shade  of  colour,  which  it  is  quite 
possible  some  unexpected  freak  of  fashion  may 
one  day  change.  Indeed,  from  time  immemorial, 
the  girl  so  endowed  by  Nature  has  been,  in  most 
places,  open  to  sarcasm,  and  rude  unsympathetic 
passers-by  have  contemptuously  spoken  of 
"carrots"  by  way  of  a  joke.  An  old  epigram 
running  thus  :  — 

"  Why  scorn  red  hair  ?     The  Greeks,  we  know 
(I  note  it  here  in  Charity), 
Had  taste  in  beauty,  and  with  them 
The  Graces  were  all  '  Charitai.'  " 

For  years  past  barbers  have  advertised  various 
compositions  for  altering  the  red  shade  of  the 
hair,  and  some  time  ago  a  high  German  doctor 
and  astrologer  informed  the  public  that  he  was 
blessed  with  a  wife  "  who  could  make  red  hair  as 
white  as  a  lily." 

A  lady  whose  lover  had  an  unconquerable 
antipathy  to  red  hair  once  applied  to  a  noted 
quack  for  help  in  her  emergency,  who  politely 
answered  : — "  This   is  no  business  of  mine,   but 


Red-haired  Girls  1 1 5 

my  wife's,  who'll  soon  redress  your  grievances 
and  furnish  you  with  a  leaden  comb,  and  my 
anti-Erythraean  unguent,  which  after  two  or  three 
applications  will  make  you  as  fair,  or  as  brown, 
as  you  please."  According  to  an  American  news- 
paper paragraph,  twenty-one  men  in  Cincinnati, 
who  had  married  red-haired  women,  were  found  to 
be  colour  blind,  thus  mistaking  red  for  black. 

But,  going  back  to  the  antecedent  history  of 
this  strange  prejudice,  it  may  be  traced  to  a  very 
early  period.  The  Ancient  Egyptians,  for  in- 
stance, seem  to  have  been  pre-eminent  among  all 
nations  for  their  aversion  to  red-haired  people. 
According  to  early  authorities  they  were  in  the 
habit  of  annually  performing  the  ceremony  of  £** 
burning  alive  an  unfortunate  individual  whose 
only  crime  was  the  colour  of  his  hair.  "  Fancy," 
as  it  has  been  remarked,  "  the  state  of  mind  into 
which  every  possessor  of  the  obnoxious  shade 
must  have  been  thrown  at  the  approach  of  the 
dreaded  ceremony,  each  not  knowing  who  might 
be  selected  as  the  victim." 

From  the  epithets  "  red-haired  barbarians  "  and 
"  red-haired  devils,"  with  which  the  Chinese  were 
formerly  in  the  habit  of  designating  the  English, 
it  is  evident  that  with  them  a  similar  strong 
antipathy  prevailed  to  this  unfortunate,  and  ill- 
omened,  colour  of  the  hair. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Romans,  from  the  days 
of  Nero  to  the  present,  have  been  unstinted  in 
their  praise  of  red  hair — with  the  old  Romans 
the  colour  more  esteemed  being  a  dark  red, 
almost  brown.     Modern  Romans,  it  is  said,  inherit 


1 1 6  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

"  the  tastes  of  their  ancestors  in  this  respect ;  and 
nowhere  else  on  the  face  of  the  earth  are  so  many 
red-haired  women  to  be  found  as  among  the 
patrician  families  of  Rome  and  Florence.  The 
same  liking  exists  among  modern  Greeks,  who 
strive  to  accentuate  the  burnished  effect  of  their 
reddish  tresses  by  the  wearing  of  dull  gold 
ornaments.' ' 

The  Laura  whom  Petrarch  has  immortalised 
attracted  him  by  the  colour  of  her  tresses.  He 
first  saw  her  in  church  clad  in  a  mantle  of  green, 
over  which  her  golden  red  hair  fell,  which  in- 
spired him  to  write  these  lines  : — 

"  The  snare  was  set  amidst  those  threads  of  gold 
To  which  Love  bound  me  fast," 

and  in  another  of  his  songs  he  says  of  his  lady- 
love's hair — 

"  The  gold  and  topaz  of  the  sun  on  snow 
Are  shade  by  the  bright  hair  above  those  eyes." 

Spanish  artists  look  with  no  favour  on  a  red- 
haired  woman,  and  for  two  reasons.  First,  be- 
cause red  hair  is  in  direct  opposition  to  that  of 
the  Castilian  women,  who  form  the  class  ideal 
of  feminine  beauty  to  the  people  of  that  country. 
The  second  reason  may  be  attributed  to  the  old 
tradition  which  has  led  them  always  to  portray 
Judas  as  a  man  with  red  hair.  The  same  preju- 
dice prevails  in  France,  and  Thiers,  in  his 
u  Histoire  des  Perruques,"  gives  this  as  one  of 
the  reasons  for  wearing  a  wig  : — "  Les  rousseaux 
porterent  des  perruques  pour  cacher  la  couleur  de 


Red-haired  Girls  1 1 7 

leur  cheveux,  qui  sont  en  horreur  a  tout  le 
monde,  parceque  Judas,  a  ce  qu'on  pretend  etoit 
rousseau."  Hence  there  is  an  old  French  adage 
to  this  effect  : — 

"  Homme  roux  et  femme  barbe, 
Da  trente  pas  loin  le  salue, 
Avecques  trois  pierres  au  poing, 
Pour  t'en  aider  a  ton  besoign." 

In  our  own  country,  the  literature  of  past  years 
contains  many  similar  allusions.  In  "As  You 
Like  It,"  Rosalind,  speaking  of  Orlando,  says  : 
"  His  very  hair  is  of  the  dissembling  colour  ; " 
whereupon  Celia  replies,  "  Something  browner 
than  Judas's."  Southey,  in  his  "Vision  of  the 
Maid  of  Orleans,"  after  having  taken  the  poor 
girl  to  a  number  of  unpleasant  places,  introduces 
her   to  the   following   disagreeable    personage  : — 

"  From  thence  they  came 
Where,  in  the  next  ward,  a  most  wretched  band 
Groaned  underneath  the  bitter  tyranny 
Of  a  fierce  demon.      His  coarse  hair  was  red, 
Pale  grey  his  eyes,  and  bloodshot,  and  his  face 
Wrinkled  with  such  a  smile  as  malice  wears 
In  ecstasy." 

This  demon,  of  course,  is  Cruelty,  into  whose 
charge  are  committed  all  those  who  have  been 
guilty  of  cruelty  in  their  lifetime.  Shirley,  in 
his  "  Doubtful  Heir,"  expresses  the  same  idea, 
as  also  does  Dryden,  in  his  play  of  "  Amboyna." 
Middleton,  too,  in  his  "  Chaste  Maid  of  Cheap- 
side,"  has  a  similar  allusion,  showing  how  popular 


n8  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

and  widespread  was  the  prejudice  to  this  unfortu- 
nate colour  ;  indeed,  so  much  so,  that  there  is 
some  reason  to  think  that  the  devil  himself  had 
occasionally  this  attribute  bestowed  upon  him. 

The  Brahmins  were  forbidden  to  marry  a 
red-haired  woman  ;  and,  as  it  has  been  remarked, 
"  the  populace  of  most  countries,  confounding 
moral  with  aesthetic  impressions,  accuses  red-haired 
people  of  various  shortcomings."  Hence,  super- 
stition has  assigned  to  hair  of  a  coppery  tinge,  when 
it  adorns  a  woman's  head,  the  worst  traits  ;  and  "  all 
the  petty  vices,  all  the  lamentable  shortcomings  to 
which  femininity  is  heir  have  been  laid  to  the  charge 
of  the  reddish  crown."  Of  course  this  is  only 
prejudice  ;  and  as  the  author  of  the  "  Ugly  Girl 
Papers"  writes,  "I  have  seen  a  most  obnoxious  head 
of  colour  so  changed  by  a  few  years'  care  that  it 
became  the  admiration  of  the  owner's  friends,  and 
could  hardly  be  recognised  as  the  withered,  fiery 
locks  once  worn."  At  the  same  time  there  seems 
some  truth  in  the  common  opinion  that  a  red- 
haired  girl  is  invariably  self-conscious ;  for  she 
knows  that  her  hair,  although  it  may  not  be  of 
a  fiery  carrot  colour,  is  the  subject  of  daily 
comment. 

Referring  to  the  colour  of  the  hair  in  folk-lore, 
we  may  note  that  from  time  immemorial  there 
has  been  a  strong  antipathy  to  red  hair,  which, 
according  to  some  antiquarians,  originated  in  a 
tradition  that  Judas  had  hair  of  this  colour.  One 
reason,  it  has  been  suggested,  why  the  dislike  to  it 
arose  was  that  it  was  considered  ugly  and  unfashion- 
able, and  on  this  account  a  person  with  red  hair 


Red-haired  Girls 


119 


would  soon  be  regarded  with  contempt.  It  has 
been  conjectured,  too,  that  the  odium  took  its  rise 
from  the  aversion  to  the  red-haired  Danes. 

Yellow  hair  was,  also,  in  years  gone  by,  regarded 
with  ill-favour,  and  almost  esteemed  a  deformity, 
allusions  to  which  prejudice  are  of  constant 
occurrence  ;  and,  it  may  be  added,  that  hair  was 
often  used  metaphorically  for  the  colour,  com- 
plexion, or  nature  of  a  thing,  as  in  Beaumont  and 
Fletcher's  "  The  Nice  Valour  "— 

"A  lady  of  my  hair  cannot  want  pitying." 


CHAPTER  XIII 


WOMAN  S     FICKLENESS 


"  Ladies,  like  variegated  tulips,  show 
'Tis  to  their  changes  half  their  charms  we  owe." 
Pope's  Moral  Essays,  Ep,  ii. 

BY  an  unwritten  law  it  is  held  to  be  the 
privilege  of  woman  to  change  her  mind,  a 
licence  of  which  she  rarely  fails  to  avail  herself. 
Hence  she  has  often  been  said  to  be  chameleon- 
like, and,  as  a  German  proverb  runs,  "Women  are 
variable  as  April  weather  ;  "  a  Sindhi  proverb  used 
of  fickle-minded  people  being  this  :  "  A  mad 
woman  wears  a  bangle  sometimes  on  the  arm  and 
sometimes  on  the  leg  ; "  of  which  there  are  other 
versions,  as  thus  : — 


"  Maids  are  May  when  they  are  maids, 
But  the  sky  changes  when  they  are  wives." 

and,  "  Fortune  is  like  woman,  loves  youth,  and  is 
fickle." 

According  to  an  old  adage  in  this  country,  "  A 


Woman  s  Fickleness  121 

woman's  mind  and  winter  wind  change  oft ;  "  or, 
as  it  is  sometimes  said,  "  Winter  weather  and 
woman's  thoughts  often  change  ;  "  another  version 
of  which  we  find  current  in  Spain,  "  Women, 
wind,  and  fortune  soon  change  ; "  and,  similarly, 
it  is  said,  "  She  can  laugh  and  cry  both  in  a  wind." 
But  it  has  apparently  always  been  so,  and  Virgil 
describes  woman  as  "  ever  variable,  ever  change- 
able," and  likens  her  to  Proteus — 

"  Caeneus,  a  woman  once,  and  once  a  man, 
But  ending  in  the  sex  she  first  began." 

Similarly,  Verdi,  in  his  opera  of  "  Rigoletto," 
speaks  of  woman  as  an  inconstant  thing. 
Catullus,  again,  was  of  opinion  that,  "  What  a 
woman  says  to  her  ardent  lover  ought  to  be  written 
on  the  winds,  or  on  running  water,"  so  shifting 
and  transient  are-  her  vows  and  professions,  which 
reminds  us  of  Keats's  epitaph — 

"  Here  lies  one  whose  name  was  writ  in  water." 

This  failing  has  been  made  the  subject  of  frequent 
comment  and  ridicule,  and  Pope  tells  us  how — 

"  Papillia,  wedded  to  her  amorous  spark, 
Sighs  for  the  shadow — '  How  charming  is  a  park  !  ' 
A  park  is  purchas'd,  but  the  fair  he  sees 
All  bath'd  in  tears — '  O  odious,  odious  trees.'  " 

The  French  popular  adage  says,  M  Woman  often 
varies,  fool  is  he  who  trusts  her."  The  story  goes 
that  these  words  were  written  by  Francis  I.  on  a 


122  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

window-pane  in  the  Castle  of  Chambord.  His 
sister,  Queen  Margaret  of  Navarre,  entered  as  he 
was  writing  what  she  considered  a  slander  on  her 
sex,  and  declared  that  she  could  quote  twenty 
instances  of  man's  infidelity.  But  Francis  replied 
that  her  words  were  not  to  the  point,  and  that  he 
would  rather  hear  one  instance  of  a  woman's  con- 
stancy; to  which  the  Queen  replied,  "  Can  you 
mention  a  single  instance  of  her  inconstancy  ?  " 

Francis  triumphantly  answered  in  the  affirma- 
tive, for  it  so  happened  that,  a  few  weeks  before 
this  conversation,  a  gentleman  of  the  Court  had 
been  thrown  into  prison  on  a  serious  charge,  while 
his  wife,  who  was  one  of  the  Queen's  ladies-in- 
waiting,  was  reported  to  have  eloped  with  his 
page. 

Margaret,  however,  maintained  that  the  lady 
was  innocent,  at  which  the  King  shook  his  head, 
at  the  same  time  promising  that  if,  within  a  month, 
her  character  should  be  re-established,  he  would 
break  the  pane  on  which  the  disputed  words  were 
written,  and  grant  his  sister  any  favour  she 
might  ask.  Not  many  days  had  elapsed  when 
it  was  discovered  that  it  was  not  the  lady  who  had 
fled  with  the  page,  but  her  husband.  During  one 
of  her  visits  to  him  in  prison  they  had  exchanged 
clothes,  whereby  he  was  enabled  to  deceive  the 
jailer  and  effect  his  escape,  while  his  devoted  wife 
remained  in  his  place. 

Margaret  claimed  his  pardon  at  the  King's 
hand,  who  not  only  granted  it,  but  gave  a  grand 
fete  and  tournament  to  celebrate  this  instance  of 
conjugal  affection.      He  also   destroyed  the  pane 


Woman  s  Fickleness  123 

of  glass,  although  the  saying  on  it  has  long  passed 
into  a  proverb.  It  may,  however,  be  added  that 
Brantome,  who  had  seen  the  writing,  says  that  the 
words  were  "Toute  femme  varie,"  and  not  a 
distich,  as  is  commonly  supposed  : — 

"  Souvent  femme  varie, 
Bien  fou  qui  s'y  fie." 

On  the  other  hand,  Sir  Philip  Sidney  was  one  of 
those  who  was  forced  to  admit  woman's  fickleness, 
for  he  thus  writes  : — 

"He  water  ploughs,  and  soweth  in   the  sand, 
And  hopes  the  flickering  wind  with  net  to  hold, 
Who  hath  his  hopes  laid  on  a  woman's  hand." 

Again,  the  unreliability  of  woman  has  been 
exemplified  in  the  saying,  "  An  eel's  held  by  the  tail 
surer  than  a  woman  ;  "  a  maxim  which  is  said  to 
be  "  an  ancient  truth  "  in  Field's  "  Amends  for 
Ladies,"  published  in  the  year  16 18,  and  is  much 
to  the  same  effect  as  the  following  lilies! : — 

"  She  will  and  she  will  not.     She  grants,  denies, 
Consents,  retracts,  advances,  and  then  flies." 

And  an  Oriental  proverb  says  that  "  Women  are 
like  bows,  they  can  bend  as  much  as  they  please  ;  " 
in  other  words,  they  are  as  changeable  as  the  moon. 
But,  although  the  proverbial  lore  of  most  countries 
makes  fickleness  one  of  the  grave  defects  of  a 
woman's  character,  it  may  be  questioned  whether, 
in   this  respect,  she  is  a  more  grievous  offender 


124  Folk-Lore  of  Women 

than  man,  despite  all  that  has  been  said  to  prove 
her  the  greater  sinner.  However  much,  too,  poets 
after  the  manner  of  Charles  Mackay  may  have 
spoken  of  woman's  fickleness  in  words  like  the 
following  : — 

"  Whene'er  a  woman  vows  to  love  you 

In  fortune's  spite  ; 
Make  protestations  that  would  prove  you 

Her  soul's  delight ; 
Swears  that  no  other  love  shall  win  her 

By  passion  stirr'd ; 
Believe  her  not ; — the  charming  sinner 

Will  break  her  word;" 

it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  same  charge 
has  been  made  against  man,  and  oftentimes  in 
language  still  more  severe,  an  illustration  of  which 
may  be  quoted  from  Dryden's  "  Absalom  and 
Ahitophel": — 

"  A  man  so  various,  that  he  seem'd  to  be 
Not  one,  but  all  mankind's  epitome  ; 
Stiff  in  opinions,  always  in  the  wrong  ; 
Was  everything  by  starts,  and  nothing  long  ; 
But,  in  the  course  of  one  revolving  moon, 
Was  chemist,  fiddler,  statesman,  and  buffoon; 
Then  all  for  women,  painting,  rhyming,  drinking, 
Besides  ten  thousand  freaks  that  died  in  thinking." 

And  yet  the  fair  sex  has  always  been  credited  with 
being  fickle,  one  popular  cure  for  which,  in  olden 
times,  was  the  love-philtre,  or  potion,  which  forms 
the  subject  of  a  preceding  chapter. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

LOCAL    ALLUSIONS    TO    WOMEN 

"  He  that  will  not  merry  be, 

With  a  pretty  girl  by  the  fire, 
I  wish  he  was  atop  of  Dartemoor 
A-stugged  in  the  mire." 

Devonshire  Folk-Rhyme. 

MANY  of  our  old  towns  and  villages  through- 
out the  country  have  long  been  famous  for 
certain  characteristics,  and  some  of  these  which 
pay  special  honour  to  the  fair  sex  are  embodied  in 
local  rhymes,  which,  if  not  in  all  respects  quite 
complimentary,  are  generally  quaint  and  good- 
humoured. 

A  popular  folk-rhyme  informs  us  : — 

"  Oxford  for  learning,  London  for  a  wit, 
Hull  for  women,  and  York  for  a  tit." 

The  downs  in  the  vicinity  of  Sutton,  Banstead, 
and  Epsom,  in  addition  to  being  noted  for  their 
small    sheep,    which    have    given    rise  to  various 

125 


126  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

rhymes,  have  been  in  other  ways  equally  famous, 
if  we  are  to  believe  the  following  : — 


"  Sutton  for  good  mutton, 
Cheam  for  juicy  beef, 
Croydon  for  a  pretty  girl, 
And  Mitcham  for  a  thief." 


But  these  are  not  the  only  places,  as  other  folk- 
rhymes  tell  us,  that  can  lay  claim  to  producing 
pretty  girls  ;  for,  under  Oxfordshire,  in  Halliwell's 
"  Nursery  Rhymes  of  England,"  these  lines  are 
given  :  — 

"  King's  Sutton  is  a  pretty  town, 

And  lies  all  in  a  valley  ; 
It  has  a  pretty  ring  of  bells, 

Besides  a  bowling  alley  ; 
Wine  in  liquor  in  good  store, 

Pretty  maidens  plenty, 
Can  a  man  desire  more  ? 

There  ain't  such  a  town  in  twenty  ;" 

with  which  may  be  compared  a  similar  rhyme  on 
Middlewych,  in  Cheshire  : — 

"  Middlewych  is  a  pretty  town, 
Seated  in  a  valley, 
With  a  church  and  market  cross, 

And  eke  a  bowling  alley. 
All  the  men  are  loyal  there, 
Pretty  girls  are  plenty, 
Church  and  King,  and  down  with  the  Rump — 
There's  not  such  a  town  in  twenty." 

Chambers,  in  his  "  Popular  Rhymes  of  Scotland," 


Local  Allusions  to   Women 


127 


quotes  an  old  rhyme  descriptive  of  places  in  the 
parishes  of  Bunkle  and  Chirnside  ;  "  but,  alas,"  he 
says,  "  five  of  these  little  farm  towns  no  longer 
exist,  their  lands  being  now  included  in  large 
possessions  : — 

"  Little  Billy,  Billy  Mill, 
Billy  Mains,  and  Billy  Hill, 
Ashfield  and  Auchencraw, 
Bullerhead  and  Pefferlaw, 
There's  bonny  lasses  in  them  a'." 

The  term,  "  Lancashire  fair  women/'  has  long 
ago  become  proverbial,  in  connection  with  which 
we  may  quote  this  note  by  Ray  :  "  Whether  the 
women  of  this  county  be  indeed  fairer  than  their 
neighbours  I  know  not,  but  that  the  inhabitants  of 
some  counties  may  be,  and  are,  generally  fairer 
than  those  of  others,  is  most  certain  ;  the  reason 
whereof  is  to  be  attributed  partly  to  the  tempera- 
ture of  the  air,  partly  to  the  condition  of  the  soil, 
and  partly  to  their  manner  of  food.  The  hotter  the 
climate,  generally  the  blacker  the  inhabitants,  and 
the  colder,  the  fairer ;  the  colder,  I  say,  to  a 
certain  degree,  for  in  extreme  cold  countries  the 
inhabitants  are  of  dusky  complexions.  But  in  the 
same  climate,  that  in  some  places  the  inhabitants 
should  be  fairer  than  in  others,  proceeds  from  the 
diversity  of  the  situation — either  high  or  low, 
maritime  or  far  from  sea — or  of  the  soil  and 
manner  of  living,  which  we  see  have  so  much 
influence  upon  hearts,  as  to  alter  in  them  bigness, 
shape,  and  colour  ;  and  why  it  may  not  have  the 
like  on  men  I  see  not." 


128  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

Another  folk-rhyme  tells  us  : — 

"  Barton  under  Needwood, 
Dunstall  in  the  Dale  ; 
Sitenhill  for  a  pretty  girl, 
And  Burton  for  good  ale  ; " 

which  is  similar  to  one  told  of  the  hamlets  of 
Pulverbatch,  in  Shropshire  : — 

"Cothercot  up  o'  the  hill, 
Wilderley  down  i'  the  dale, 
Churton  for  pretty  girls, 
And  Powtherbitch  for  good  ale." 

"  Suffolk  fair  maids "  is  another  popular 
proverbial  expression,  an  allusion  to  which  we 
find  in  Greene's  "  Friar  Bacon  and  Friar  Bungay  " 
(Works,  Edit.  1861,  p.  153): — 

"  A  bonnier  wench  all  Suffolk  cannot  yield. 
All  Suffolk  !     Nay,  all  England  holds  none  such  ;" 

and  Ray  remarks  on  this  expression  :•  "  It  seems 
the  God  of  Nature  hath  been  bountiful  in  giving 
them  beautiful  complexions  ;  which  I  am  willing 
to  believe,  so  far  forth  as  it  fixeth  not  a  compara- 
tive disparagement  on  the  same  sex  in  other 
places." 

On  the  other  hand,  we  occasionally  find  a  place 
mentioned  as  possessing  no  pretty  girls,  as  in  the 
following  : — 

"  Halifax  is  made  of  wax, 
And  Heptonstall  of  stone  ; 
In  Halifax  there's  many  a  pretty  girl 
In  Heptonstall  there's  none." 


Local  Allusions  to    Women 


129 


A  humorous  rhyme  on  Camberwell  runs  thus  : — 

"  All  the  maides  in  Camberwell, 
May  daunce  in  an  egge  shell, 
For  there  are  no  maydes  in  that  well  ; " 

to  which  one,  who,  it  has  been  suggested,  was 
doubtless  a  Camberwellian,  answered  in  clumsy 
doggerel  : — 

"All  the  maides  in  Camberwell  towne, 
Cannot  daunce  in  an  acre  of  ground."  x 


It  is  proverbially  said,  too  : 


"  Castleford  women  must  needs  be  fair, 
Because  they  wash  both  in  Calder  and  Aire. 


In  short,  in  accordance  with  an  old  adage, 
"  England's  the  Paradise  of  Women,"  upon  which 
Ray  has  this  note  :  "  And  well  it  may  be  called  so, 
as  might  easily  be  demonstrated  in  many  particu- 
lars, were  not  all  the  world  therein  satisfied. 
Hence  it  has  been  said  that  if  a  bridge  were  made 
over  the  narrow  seas,  all  the  women  in  Europe 
would  come  over  hither.  Yet  it  is  worth  the 
noting,  that  though  in  no  country  in  the  world 
the  men  are  so  fond  of,  so  much  governed  by,  so 
wedded  to  their  wives,  yet  hath  no  language  so 
many  proverbial  invectives  against  women." 

Some  places  have  enjoyed  the  unenviable  notoriety 

1   Northall's  "  English  Folk-Rhymes,"  p.  45. 
IO 


130  Fo Ik-Lore  of  Women 

of  possessing  loose  women,  if  we  are  to  put  reliance 
in  folk-rhymes  like  the  subjoined  : — 

"Beccles  for  a  puritan,  Bungay  for  the  poor, 
Halesworth  for  a  drunkard,  and  Bilborough  for  a  whore." 

According  to  a  Leicestershire  saying,  "  There  are 
more  whores  in  Hose,  than  honest  women  in  Long 
Clawton  ;  "  the  humour  of  this  proverb,  as  Ray 
says,  c  turning  on  the  word  hose,  which  is  here 
meant  to  signify  stockings,  and  is  the  name  of  a 
small  village  adjoining  Long  Clawton,  which  is 
comparatively  very  populous/ '  A  proverbial 
couplet   current  in   Essex   informs    us  : — 

"  Braintree  for  the  pure,  and  Booking  for  the  poor  ; 
Cogshall  for  the  jeering  town,  and  Kelvedon  for  the  whore." 

And  to  give  a  further  instance,  a   Surrey   folk- 
rhyme  is  to  this  effect : — 

"  Sutton  for  mutton,  Carshalton  for  beeves, 
Epsom  for  whores,  and  Ewel  for  thieves." 

At  one  time,  too,  it  was  a  common  saying,  "  Who 
goes  to  Westminster  for  a  wife,  to  Paul's  for  a 
man,  and  to  Smithfield  for  a  horse,  may  meet  with 
a  whore,  a  knave,  and  a  jade  ;  "  with  which  may 
be  compared  the  following  old  folk-rhyme  on  the 
Inns  of  Court  : — 

"The  Inner  Temple  rich, 

The  Middle  Temple  poor  : 
Lincoln's  Inn  for  law, 

And  Gray's  Inn  for  a  whore." 


Local  Allusions  to   Women  131 

Herefordshire  has  long  been  famous  for  its  four 
W's — its  wine  (cider),  its  wood  (its  sylvan  scenery), 
its  women,  and  its  water  (the  river  Wye),  whence 
the  saying,  "  Wine,  wood,  women,  and  water  ;  " 
and  a  popular  couplet  speaks  of  : — 


Oxford  knives, 
London  wives  " 


which,  according  to  Grose,  would  seem  to  imply 
that  "  the  Oxford  knives  were  better  to  look  at 
than  to  cut  with  ;  and  that  the  London  wives  had 
more  beauty  and  good  breeding  than  housewifely 
qualities,"  with  which  may  be  compared  a  similar 
folk-rhyme  : — 

"  Hutton  for  auld  wives, 

Broadmeadows  for  swine  ; 
Paxton  for  drunken  wives, 
And  salmon*  sae  fine." 

Cheshire  people  when  referring  to  a  girl  noted  for 
her  good  looks  are  wont  to  describe  her  as  being 
"  As  fair  as  Lady  Done,"  a  phrase  which  is  thus 
explained  by  Pennant,  in  his  "  Journey  from 
Chester  to  London,"  1793: — "Sir  John  Done, 
Knight,  hereditary  forester  and  keeper  of  the 
forest  of  Delamere,  Cheshire,  died  in  1629.  When 
James  I.  made  a  progress  in  the  year  1607,  he  was 
entertained  by  this  gentleman  at  Utkinton,  etc. 
He  married  Dorothy,  daughter  of  Thomas  Wilbra- 
ham,  Esq.,  of  Woodhey,  who  left  behind  her  so 
admirable  a  character,  that  to  this  day,  when  a 
Cheshire  man  would  express  some  excellency  in 


132  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

one  of  the  fair  sex,  he  would  say,  *  There  is  Lady 
Done  for  you.' " 

Ray,  also,  tells  us  that,  "  The  Dones  were 
a  great  family  in  Cheshire,  living  at  Utkinton, 
by  the  forest  side.  Nurses  use  there  to  call 
their  children  so,  if  girls ;  if  boys,  Earls  of 
Derby/' 

It  is  also  commonly  said  in  Cheshire,  "  Better 
wed  over  the  mixen  than  over  the  moor " — a 
proverbial  adage  which  Ray  thus  explains  :  "  That 
is,  hard  by,  or  at  home — the  mixon  being  that 
heap  of  compost  which  lies  in  the  yards  of  good 
husbandmen — than  far  off,  or  from  London.  The 
road  from  Chester  leading  to  London  over  some 
part  of  the  moorlands  in  Staffordshire,  the  meaning 
is,  that  gentry  in  Cheshire  find  it  more  profitable 
to  match  within  their  own  county,  than  to  bring 
a  bride  out  of  other  shires  :  ( 1 )  Because  better 
acquainted  with  her  birth  and  breeding.  (2) 
Because  though  her  portion  may  chance  to  be 
less  to  maintain  her,  such  inter-marriages  in  this 
county  have  been  observed  both  a  prolonger  of 
worshipful  families  and  the  preserver  of  amity 
between  them." 

We  find  the  same  proverb  in  Scotland,  "  Better 
over  the  midden  than  over  the  muir  ; "  and  it 
has  also  found  its  way  to  the  Continent,  for 
to  a  young  person  about  to  marry  in  Germany 
this  advice  is  given,  "  Marry  over  the  mixon, 
and  you  will  know  who  and  what  she  is ; " 
with  which  may  be  compared  the  Italian  admo- 
nition, "  Your  wife  and  your  nag  get  from  a 
neighbour." 


Local  Allusions  to    Women  133 

A  couplet  popular  in  Wem,  Shropshire,  runs 
thus  : — 

"  The  women  of  Wem,  and  a  few  musketeers, 
Beat  Lord  Capel,  and  all  his  cavaliers." 

Wem  was  the  first  town  in  Shropshire  to  declare 
for  the  Parliament.  The  story  told — which  gave 
rise  to  this  rhyme — is  that  in  1643,  Lord  Capel, 
the  King's  lieutenant-general  in  Wales  and  the 
border  counties,  attempted  to  seize  it  from  Shrews- 
bury before  the  completion  of  the  fortifications, 
but  he  was  repulsed  from  Wem  by  about  forty 
troopers,  with  the  aid  of  the  townspeople.  A  smart 
piece  of  deception,  it  is  said,  was  adopted,  for  old 
women  in  red  cloaks  were  posted  at  carefully- 
selected  spots,  thus  scaring  the  enemy,  who  took 
them  for  soldiers. 

Another  Cheshire  adage  tells  us,  "  When  the 
daughter  is  stolen,  shut  Pepper  Gate,"  which  Grose 
thus  explains — "  Pepper  Gate  was  a  postern  on  the 
east  side  of  the  city  of  Chester.  The  mayor  of 
the  city  having  his  daughter  stolen  away  by  a 
young  man  through  that  gate,  whilst  she  was  playing 
at  ball  with  the  other  maidens,  his  worship,  out  of 
revenge,  caused  it  to  be  closed  up." 

There  are  numerous  items  of  folk-lore  of  a 
similar  character  ;  and  the  Scotch,  when  speaking 
of  a  changeable  woman,  remark,  "  Ye're  as  i\x 
o'  maggots  as  the  bride  of  Preston,  wha  stopt 
half-way  as  she  gaed  to  the  kirk  ; "  on  which 
adage,  Henderson  writes  :  "  We  have  not  been 
able  to  learn  who  the  bride  of  Preston  really 
was,  but    we    have    frequently  heard    the    saying 


134  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

applied  to  young  women  who  are  capricious  and 
changeable  : — 

"  The  bride  took  a  maggot,  it  was  but  a  maggot, 
She  wadna  gang  by  the  west  mains  to  be  married." 

Another  common  expression  is,  "  Take  a  seat  on 
Maggy  Shaw's  Crocky,"  which  is  a  broad,  flat 
stone,  near  to  the  brink  of  a  precipice,  overhang- 
ing the  seashore,  about  a  mile  to  the  north  of 
Eyemouth.  Tradition  says  this  stone  was  placed 
over  the  remains  of  an  old  woman  who  had 
hanged  herself,  and  who  is  said  frequently  to  be 
seen  at  night  resting  upon  it,  in  the  shape  of  a 
white  sea-mew,  sitting  lonely  on  the — 

"  Glitty  stane, 
Green  with  the  dow  o'  the  jauping  main." 

Sometimes  one  may  hear  a  Scotch  peasant  use 
the  phrase,  "  Ye  breed  o'  Lady  Mary,  when  you're 
gude,  ye're  ower  gude,"  which  Kelly  thus  explains  : 
"  A  drunken  man  one  day  begged  Lady  Mary  to 
help  him  on  his  horse,  and  having  made  many 
attempts  to  no  purpose,  he  always  reiterated  the 
same  position  ;  at  length  he  jumped  quite  over. 
*  O,  Lady  Mary,'  said  he,  '  when  thou  art  good, 
thou  art  over  good.' "  Another  common  phrase 
is,  "  Gae  kiss  your  lucky — she  lives  in  Leith," 
which  Allan  Ramsay  thus  explains  :  "  A  cant 
phrase,  from  what  rise  I  know  not,  but  it  is  made 
use  of  when  persons  think  it  is  not  worth  while  to 
give  a  distinct  answer,  or  think  themselves  foolishly 
accused." 


Local  Allusions  to   Women  135 

It  is  commonly  said  in  Buckinghamshire,  in 
reference  to  a  marriage  of  unequal  age,  "  An  old 
man  who  marries  a  buxom  young  maiden  bids  fair 
to  become  a  freeman  of  Buckingham,"  that  is,  a 
cuckold.  A  Shropshire  proverb,  in  which  there 
does  not  seem  to  be  much  point,  says,  "  He  that 
fetches  a  wife  from  Shrewsbury  must  carry  her 
into  Staffordshire,  or  else  he  shall  live  in  Cumber- 
land," with  which  may  be  compared  the  following 
old  rhyme  : — 

"  Women  are  born  in  Wiltshire, 
Brought  up  in  Cumberland, 
Lead  their  lives  in  Bedfordshire, 
Bring  their  husbands  to  Buckingham, 
And  die  in  Shrewsbury." 

On  the  Kentish  coast  the  white  clouds  which 
commonly  bring  rain  are  nicknamed  "  Folke 
Stone  Washerwomen  ; "  and  in  Cornwall  we 
find  the  expression,  "  Grained  like  a  Wellcombe 
woman  ;  " — Wellcombe  is  about  three  miles  from 
Morwenstow,  the  women  in  this  neighbourhood 
being  remarkably  dark.  At  the  present  day,  too, 
one  may  often  hear  the  Sussex  peasantry  use  the 
phrase,  "  Lithe  as  a  lass  of  Kent,"  and  in 
Northamptonshire  a  current  expression  used  to 
be,  "  She  is  quite  an  Amy  Florence." 

Another  old  proverbial  phrase  which,  at  one 
time  or  another,  has  given  rise  to  much  dis- 
cussion is,  "  As  long  as  Meg  of  Westminster," 
which,  says  Ray,  "  is  applied  to  persons  very 
tall,  especially  if  they  have  hopple  height  wanting 
breadth    proportionately.      But    that    there    ever 


136  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

was,"  he  adds,  "  such  a  giant  woman  cannot 
be  proved  by  any  good  witness.  I  pass  not  for 
a  late  lying  pamphlet,  entitled,  c  Story  of  a 
monstrous  tall  Virago  called  "  Long  Megg  of 
Westminster/'  '  the  writer  of  which  thinks  it 
might  relate  to  a  great  gun  lying  in  the  Tower, 
called  Long  Megg,  in  troublesome  times  brought 
to  Westminster,  where  for  some  time  it  continued/ ' 

Fuller,  writing  in  1662,  says,  "The  large  grave- 
stone shown  on  the  south  side  of  the  cloister  in 
Westminster  Abbey,  said  to  cover  her  body,  was 
placed  over  a  number  of  monks  who  died  of  the 
plague,  and  were  all  buried  in  one  grave." 

Turning  once  more  to  Scotland,  there  is  a  small 
village  named  Ecclesmagirdle,  situated  "  under 
the  northern  slope  of  the  Ochil  Hills,  and  for 
some  considerable  part  of  the  year  untouched  by 
the  solar  rays."     Hence  the  following  rhyme  : — 

"  The  lasses  o'  Exmagirdle 
May  very  weel  be  dun  ; 
For  frae  Michaelmas  till  Whitsunday, 
They  never  see  the  sun." 

Corncairn,  situated  in  Banffshire,  is  an  extensive 
and  fertile  district,  adjacent  to  Cornhill,  where  the 
well-known  Cornhill  markets  are  held.  It  was 
long  noted  for  the  industry  of  its  inhabitants  and 
the  thrift  of  its  women,  which  seems  to  have  given 
rise  to  the  following  folk-rhyme  : — 

"  A'  the  wives  o'  Corncairn, 
Drilling  up  their  harn  yarn  ; 
They  hae  corn,  they  hae  kye, 
They  have  webs  o'  claith,  for  bye." 


Local  Allusions  to    Women  137 

In  Gilburn,  Linlithgowshire,  there  is  current 
a  curious  traditionary  couplet.  The  story  goes 
that  an  unfortunate  lady  lived  with  a  Duke  of 
Hamilton,  very  many  years  ago,  at  Kinneil  House. 
She  is  said  to  have  put  an  end  to  her  existence  by 
throwing  herself  from  the  walls  of  the  castle  into 
the  deep  ravine  below,  through  which  the  Gilburn 
descends.  Her  spirit  is  supposed  to  haunt  this 
glen  ;  and  it  has  long  been  customary  for  the 
children  in  the  neighbourhood,  on  dark  and 
stormy   nights,   to  say: — 

"  Lady,  Lady  Lilburn, 
Hunts  in  the  Gilburn." 

But,  it  has  been  suggested,  it  is  far  more  likely 
that  Lady  Lilburn  was  the  wife  of  the  celebrated 
Cromwellian  colonel,  who  for  a  time  occupied 
Kinneil  House. 

Similarly,  a  dishonest  milk-woman  at  Shrews- 
bury, who  is  condemned  to  wander  up  and  down 
Lady  Studeley's  Diche,  in  the  Raven  Meadow — 
now  the  Smithfield — is  said  to  repeat  this 
couplet  : — 

"  Weight  and  measure  sold  I  never, 
Milk  and  water  sold  I  ever  "  ; 

which  at  Burslem,  in  the  Stafford-shire,  has  been 
associated  with  an  old  witch,  locally  known  as 
"Old  Molly  Lee." 


CHAPTER   XV 


WOMAN  S    WILL 


"  He  is  a  fool  who  thinks  by  force  or  skill 
To  turn  the  current  of  a  woman's  will." 

Tuke,  The  Adventures  of  Five  Hours. 

IT  has  been  humorously  remarked — although 
it  must  have  been  prior  to  the  time  when 
the  law  invested  womankind  with  testamentary 
powers — "  That  women  must  have  their  wills 
while  they  live,  because  they  make  none  when  they 
die."  Butler,  in  his  "  Miscellaneous  Thoughts," 
amusingly  remarks  : — 

"  The  souls  of  women  are  so  small 
That  some  believe  they've  none  at  all  ; 
Or,  if  they  have,  like  cripples  still, 
They've  but  one  faculty,  the  will." 

It  is  generally  acknowledged  that,  however  many 
a  woman's  deficiencies  may  be,  she  is  not  wanting 
in  a  will.  Indeed,  the  strength  of  a  woman's 
will  has  been  admitted  even  by  her  opponents; 
and    the    French  have  a  saying    that,    "  What   a 

138 


Woman  s   Will  139 

woman  wills,  God  wills;"  with  which  may  be 
compared  the  familiar  Italian  adage,  "  Whatever 
a  woman  will  she  can,"  reminding  us  of  the  rhyme 
on  a  pillar  at  Canterbury  : — 

"  Where  is  the  man  who  has  the  power  and  skill 
To  stem  the  torrent  of  a  woman's  will  ? 
For  if  she  will,  she  will,  you  may  depend  on't, 
And  if  she  won't,  she  won't,  so  there's  an  end  on't." 

According  to  another  version  of  the  same 
proverbial  rhyme,  we  are  told  : — 

"  The  man's  a  fool  who  tries  by  force  or  skill 
To  stem  the  current  of  a  woman's  will, 
For  if  she  will,  she  will,  you  may  depend  on't, 
And  if  she  won't,  she  won't,  and  there's  an  end  on't  ; " 

which  reminds  us  of  what  Terence  wrote  :  "  I 
know  what  a  woman's  temper  is  :  When  you  will, 
they  won't :  and  when  you  won't,  then  they  are  in 
a  perfect  fever  the  other  way." 

Hence  there  is  a  world-wide  saying  to  the  effect 
that,  u  Swine,  women,  and  bees  are  not  to  be 
turned."  But  Schiller,  it  would  seem,  was  one  of 
those  who  was  bold  enough  to  deny  the  sovereignty 
of  a  woman's  will,  for  he  says,  "Man  is  the  only 
being  who  can  will;"  whereas,  to  quote  a  not  very 
complimentary  phrase  current  in  years  past,  it  is 
said  "  She-devils  are  hard  to  turn."  How  important 
it  was  once  considered  that  a  woman's  will  should 
be  directed  aright  may  be  gathered  from  this 
adage,  "  It  shall  be  at  the  wife's  will  if  the  husband 
thrive,"  or,  according  to  another  version,  "He  that 
will  thrive  must  ask  leave  of  his  wife,"  which  we 


140  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

find  embodied  in  the  following  couplet  which 
occurs  in  "  The  Tale  of  the  Basyn  "  1 — 

"  Hit  is  an  olde  seid  saw,  I  swere  be  Seynt  Tyue, 
Hit  shall  be  at  the  wyve's  will  if  the  husbande  thryue." 

It  is  further  alluded  to  by  Francis  Dudley,  4th 
Lord  North,  in  his  "  Observations  and  Advices 
CEconomical''  (1669,  p.  4):  "It  is  an  ancient 
English  proverb,  that  if  a  man  will  thrive  he  must 
ask  leave  of  his  wife,  and  thrift  is  a  matter  of  no 
small  consideration  in  ceconomy.  If,  therefore, 
choice  be  made  of  a  wife,  let  him  use  as  well  his 
ear  as  his  eye,  that  is,  let  him  trust  to  his  discretion, 
according  to  what  he  hears,  than  to  his  affection 
kindled  by  sight/' 

And  yet  a  woman  does  not  always  know  her 
own  mind  ;  for,  as  it  is  said,  "  Maids  say  nay  and 
take,"  or,  as  it  has  been  observed  in  a  previous 
chapter,  "  A  woman's  mind  and  winter  change 
oft  ;  "  an  amusing  illustration  of  the  indecision 
of  a  woman's  will  being  given  by  Kelly  in  the 
following  anecdote,  which  is  from  a  Latin  sermon 
on  widowhood  by  Jean  Raulin,  a  monk  of  Cluny, 
of  the  fifteenth  century,  a  story  which  has  been 
retold  by  Rabelais  : — 

"  A  widow  consulted  her  parish  priest  about 
her  entering  into  a  second  marriage.  She  told 
him  she  stood  in  need  of  a  helpmate  and  protector, 
and  that  her  journeyman,  for  whom  she  had  taken 
a  fancy,  was  industrious  and  well  acquainted  with 
her  late  husband's  trade. 

1  Hazlitt's  "  Popular  Poetry,"  iii.  p.  45. 


Woman 's   Will  141 


"  *  Very  well,'  said  the  priest,  *  you  had  better 
marry  him.' 

"  c  And  yet,'  rejoined  the  widow,  '  I  am  afraid 
to  do  it,  for  who  knows  but  I  may  find  my  servant 
become  my  master  ? ' 

" '  Well  then/  said  the  priest,  '  don't  have 
him/ 

"  '  But  what  shall  I  do,'  said  the  widow  ;  '  the 
business  left  me  by  my  poor,  dear,  departed  hus- 
band is  more  than  I  can  manage  by  myself.' 

" '  Marry  him,  then,'  said  the  priest. 

"  '  Ay,  but  suppose  he  turns  out  a  scamp,'  said 
the  widow  ;  '  he  may  get  hold  of  my  property  and 
run  through  it  all.' 

"  *  Don't  have  him,'  said  the  priest. 

"  Thus  the  dialogue  went  on,  the  priest  always 
agreeing  in  the  last  opinion  expressed  by  the 
widow,  until  at  length,  seeing  that  her  mind  was 
actually  made  up  to  marry  the  journeyman,  he 
told  her  to  consult  the  church  bells,  and  they 
would  advise  her  best  what  to  do. 

u  Accordingly  the  bells  were  rung,  and  the 
widow  heard  them  distinctly  say,  '  Do  take  your 
man  ;  do  take  your  man.' 

"  She  went  home  and  married  him  forthwith  ; 
but  it  was  not  long  before  he  thrashed  her  soundly, 
and  made  her  feel  that  instead  of  his  mistress  she 
had  become  his  servant. 

"  Back  she  went  to  the  priest,  cursing  the  hour 
when  she  had  been  credulous  enough  to  act  upon 
his  advice. 

"  *  Good  woman,'  said  he,  '  I  am  afraid  you  did 
not  rightly  understand  what  the  bells  said  to  you.' 


142  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

He  rang  them  again,  and  then  the  poor  woman 
heard  clearly,  but  too  late,  these  warning  words  : 
'  Do  not  take  him  ;  do  not  take  him.'  " 

Vacillating,  at  times,  as  a  woman's  will  may  be, 
it  is  proverbially  difficult  to  turn,  especially  when 
bent  on  some  special  object.  Hence  Edmund 
Spenser  says  : — 

"  Extremely  mad  the  man,  I  surely  deem, 
That  weens  with  watch  and  hard  restraint  to  stay 
A  woman's  will,  which  is  disposed  to  go  astray." 

Two  women,  it  is  said,  never  think  alike  ;  and, 
as  each  wishes  to  have  a  will  of  her  own,  we  can 
understand  the  truth  of  the  following  folk-fhyme, 
to  which  reference  has  been  made  elsewhere  : — 

"  Two  women  in  one  house, 
Two  cats  and  one  mouse, 
Two  dogs  and  one  bone, 
Will  never  accord  in  one  " — 

a  piece  of  proverbial  wisdom  of  which  there 
are  several  versions,  one  of  which  occurs  in  the 
"Book  of  St.  Albans/'  i486  (reprinted  1881), 
and,  "  Although  most  women,"  as  the  adage  says, 
"  be  long-lived,  yet  they  all  die  with  an  ill-will." 
At  any  rate,  if  there  be  truth  in  the  Scotch  proverb, 
it  seems  a  woman  must  have  her  way  occasionally, 
for,  "  Gie  her  her  will,  or  she'll  burst,"  quoth  the 
man  when  his  wife  knocked  his  head  with  the 
three-legged  stool. 

Indeed,  it  has  been  generally  acknowledged 
that  the  most  difficult  thing  to  manage  is  a 
woman's    will,    for,    according    to    a    Hindustani 


Woman  s   Will  143 

proverb,  "The  obstinacy  of  a  woman,  a  child, 
and  a  king  is  not  to  be  overcome  ;  "  with  which 
may  be  compared  the  Kashmiri  proverb  which 
tells  us  that,  "  A  contrary  woman  is  like  bad 
grass  on  the  roof,"  the  meaning  being  that 
grass  which  is  not  adapted  for  thatching  does  not 
set  well.  And  we  may  compare  an  old  English 
couplet  : — 

"  To  talk  well  with  some  women  doth  as  much  good 
As  a  sick  man  to  eat  up  a  load  of  green  wood." 

Which,  says  Mr.  Halliwell,1  is  the  same  class  of 
dictum  as  that  which  occurs  in  the  "Schole-house 
of  Women,"  1541  :  — 

"  As  holsome  for  a  man  is  a  woman's  corse 
As  a  shoulder  of  mutton  for  a  sick  horse." 

And  once  more,  according  to  the  Lancashire  adage, 
a  woman's  will  is  thus  summed  up  : — 

"  Many  men  has  many  minds, 
But  women  has  but  two  ; 
Everything  is  what  they'd  have, 
And  nothing  would  they  do." 


English  Proverbs,"  p.  433. 


CHAPTER   XVI 

WOMEN    AND    MARRIAGE 

"  Be  sure  before  you  marry 
Of  a  house  wherein  to  tarry." 

Old  Proverb. 

» 

SIR  JOHN  MORE,  the  famous  Chancellor's 
father,  once  wrote  :  "I  would  compare  the 
multitude  of  women  which  are  to  be  chosen  for 
wives  unto  a  bag  full  of  snakes,  having  among 
them  a  single  eel  :  now,  if  a  man  should  put  his 
hand  into  this  bag,  he  may  chance  to  light  on  the 
eel,  but  it  is  an  hundred  to  one  he  shall  be  stung 
by  the  snake  " — a  statement  which  finds  its  exact 
parallel  in  the  proverb,  "  Put  your  hand  in  the 
creel,  and  take  out  either  an  adder  or  an  eel,"  an 
idea  as  old  as  the  time  of  Juvenal — 

"  What  !   Posthumus  take  a  wife  ?     What  rury  drest 
With  snakes  for  hair  has  your  poor  brain  possest?" 

Severe  as   this  statement   may  seem,    it   must   be 
remembered  that  it  was  a  woman — Lady  Wortley 

144 


Women  and  Marriage  145 

Montagu — thus  gave  expression  to  much  the 
same  sentiment  :  "It  goes  far  towards  reconciling 
me  to  being  a  woman,  when  I  reflect  that  I  am 
thus  in  no  immediate  danger  of  ever  marrying 
one." 

"  With  most  marriages/ '  remarked  Goethe,  "  it 
is  not  long  till  things  assume  a  very  piteous  look," 
which  is  to  the  same  effect  as  the  French  adage  : 
"  Wedlock  rides  in  the  saddle,  and  repentance 
on  the  croup  ;  "  with  which  may  be  compared 
our  own  proverb,  "  Maids  want  nothing  but 
husbands,  and,  when  they  have  them,  they  want 
everything." 

Selden  looked  upon  marriage  as  "a  desperate 
thing  ; "  and  he  tells  us  that  "  the  frogs  in  iEsop 
were  extremely  wise,  they  had  a  great  mind  to 
some  water,  but  they  would  not  leap  into  the  well, 
because  they  could  not  get  out  again  ;  "  and  a 
humorous  description  of  marriage,  much  to  the 
same  point,  has  been  left  us  by  Sir  John  Davies  in 
the  "  Contention  ": — 


"  Wedlock  hath  oft  compared  been 

To  public  feasts,  where  meet  a  public  rout, 
Where  they  that  are  without  would  fain  go  in, 
And  they  that  are  within  would  fain  go  out. 

Or  to  the  jewel  which  this  virtue  had, 

That  men  were  mad  till  they  might  it  obtain, 

But,  when  they  had  it,  they  were  twice  as  mad, 
Till  they  were  dispossessed  of  it  again." 

The  Scotch  say,  "  Married  folks  are  like  rats  in  a 
trap,  fain  to  get  ithers  in,  but  fain  to  be  out  them- 

11 


146  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

sels,"  an  allusion  to  which  we  find  in  the  "Tea 
Table  Miscellany  ": — 

44  Of  all  comforts  I  miscarried, 
When  I  played  the  sot  and  married  ; 
'Tis  a  trap,  there's  none  need  doubt  on't, 
Those  that  are  in  would  fain  get  out  on't." 

And  from  the  earliest  period  the  same  unfavour- 
able view  has  been  taken  of  marriage,  Juvenal 
apeaking  of  it  as  the  "  matrimonial  halter."  It 
was  popularly  said  that  "  marriage  is  an  evil  that 
men  pray  for,"  and,  according  to  another  common 
adage,  "  Marriage,  if  one  consider  the  truth,  is  an 
evil,  but  a  necessary  evil  ;  "  an  amusing  illustra- 
tion of  the  prudent  man  being  found  in  one  of 
Martial's  epigrams  : — 

"  You'd  marry  the  marquis,  fair  lady,  they  say  ; 
You  are  right ;  we've  suspected  it  long  : 
But  his  lordship  declines  in  a  complaisant  way, 
And,  faith,  he's  not  much  in  the  wrong." 

Heyne  quaintly  wrote:  "  The  music  at  a  marriage 
procession  always  reminds  me  of  the  music  which 
leads  soldiers  to  battle,"  which  is  borne  out  by  the 
adage  :  "  The  married  man  must  turn  his  staff 
into  a  stake."  Lord  Burleigh's  advice  to  his  son, 
too,  was  similar  :  "  In  choosing  thy  wife,  use  great 
prudence  and  circumspection,  for  from  thence 
will  spring  all  thy  future  good  or  evil  ;  "  and  it  is 
"  an  action  of  life  like  unto  a  stratagem  of  war, 
wherein  a  man  can  err  but  once " — a  timely 
warning  we  find  embodied  in  the  old  proverb : — 

"  Who  weddeth  ere  he  be  wise, 
Shall  die  ere  he  thrive  ;" 


Women  and  Marriage  147 

and  in  the  adage,  "  Choose  a  wife  rather  by  your 
ear  than  your  eye." 

Then  there  is  the  Spanish  woman's  opinion  of 
marriage,  who,  when  asked  by  her  daughter, 
"What  sort  of  a  thing  is  marriage  ? "  replied: 
"Daughter,  it  is  spinning,  bearing  children,  and 
weeping;"  which  is  only  another  mode  of 
expression  for  the  subjoined  folk-rhyme  : — 

"  When  a  couple  are  newly  married, 

The  first  month  is  honeymoon,  or  smick-smack. 

The  second  is  hither  and  thither,  the  third  is  thwick- 

thwack. 
The  fourth,  the  devil  take  them  that  brought  thee  and  I 
together." 

There  are  numerous  rhymes  of  this  sort  which  do 
not  reflect  favourably  on  the  fair  sex.  A  couplet 
still  often  quoted  to  young  people  anxious  for 
matrimony  tells  them  : — 

"Needles  and  pins,  needles  and  pins, 
When  a  man  marries  his  trouble  begins;  " 

with  which  may  be  compared  the  Syrian  maxim, 
"  Girl,  do  not  exult  in  thy  wedding  dress ;  see 
how  much  trouble  lurks  behind  it."  Indeed, 
of  the  host  of  sayings  respecting  marriage  con- 
tained in  the  proverbial  lore  of  our  own  and  other 
countries,  the  greater  part  take  a  very  pessimistic 
view  of  married  life — "  Age  and  wedlock  tame 
man  and  beast,"  and  "  Age  and  wedlock  we  all 
desire  and  repent  of."  However  much  the  con- 
jugal lot  maybe  envied,  the  consensus  of  opinion 
appears  to  be  that  "  Age  and  wedlock  bring  a  man 


148  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

to  his  nightcap."  Hence  it  is  said,  "  He  who 
marrieth  doth  well,  but  he  who  marrieth  not, 
better." 

On  the  Continent  it  is  said,  "  Grief  for  a  dead 
wife  lasts  to  the  doors,"  and  according  to  a  popular 
rhyme — 

"  Two  good  days  for  a  man  in  this  life — 
When  he  weds  and  when  he  buries  his  wife." 

The  French  adage  runs  :  "  He  that  hath  a  wife 
hath  strife  ; "  and  the  Spanish  people  say  that  "  A 
man's  best  fortune,  or  his  worst,  is  his  wife." 
There  is  a  well-known  couplet  which  tells  us — 

"  He  who  repents  him  not  of  his  marriage,  sleeping  or  wakin', 
in  a  year  and  a  day, 
May  lawfully  go  to  Dunmow,  and  fetch  a  gammon  of  bacon;" 

in  allusion  to  the  custom  of  applying  for  the 
"  Dunmow  Flitch,"  a  curious  account  of  which — 
from  a  MS.  in  the  College  of  Arms — will  be 
found  in  the  "Antiquarian  Repertory  "  (1807,  iii. 
p.  342).     Hence  originated  the  proverbial  rhyme — 

"Who  fetcheth  a  wife  from  Dunmow 
Carrieth  home  two  sides  of  a  sow." 

Indeed,  one  French  proverb  has  gone  so  far  as 
to  affirm  that  "  Marriage  is  the  sunset  of  love," 
one  reason  for  this  failure  being  the  many  impedi- 
ments, it  is  argued,  which  in  most  cases,  under  one 
form  or  another,  are  certain  sooner  or  later  to 
militate  against  the  harmony  of  the  marriage 
state.      An    obstacle,    for    instance,     to     married 


Women  and  Marriage 


149 


happiness  is  the    mother-in-law,  for   as    the    oft- 
quoted  rhyme  says  : — 

"  Of  all  the  old  women  that  ever*  I  saw, 
Sweet  bad  luck  to  my  mother-in-law." 


The  New  Forest  folks  say,  "  There  is  but  one 
good  mother-in-law,  and  she  is  dead ;"  which 
is  the  same  as  the  German  proverb,  "  There  is 
no  good  mother-in-law  but  she  that  wears  a 
green  gown,"  i.e.,  covered  with  the  grass  of 
the  churchyard  ;  or,  as  another  version  has  it, 
"  The  best  mother-in-law  is  she  on  whose  gown 
the  geese  feed." 

Among  further  illustrations  of  the  same  old 
belief,  it  is  said  that  "Mother-in-law  and  daughter- 
in-law  are  a  tempest  and  hailstorm  ;  "  and  the 
Dutch  say,  "  The  husband's  mother  is  the  wife's 
devil."  Accordingly,  the  Spanish  say  of  a  girl 
who  has  no  relatives  by  marriage,  "  She  is  well 
married  who  has  neither  mother-in-law  nor  sister- 
in-law  by  a  husband."  This,  indeed,  would 
seem  to  be  the  testimony  of  all  ages  and  coun- 
tries, which,  as  it  has  been  pointed  out,  is  all  the 
more  remarkable,  because  "  the  mother-in-law 
remembers  not  that  she  was  once  herself  a 
daughter-in-law. 

Marriage  not  infrequently  brings  want,  for  we 
are  told  that  even  u  A  wee  house  has  a  wide 
throat,"  and  "  A  poor  wedding  is  a  prologue  to 
misery."  "  It  is  easier  to  build  two  chimneys 
than  to  maintain  one " — that  is,  it  is  easier  to 
build  two  chimneys  than  keep  one  wife  runs  an- 


150  Folk-Lore  of  Women 

other  old  saw,  and  the  Portuguese  say,  "Marry, 
marry,  and  what  about  the  housekeeping  ?  "  for, 
as  our  proverb  says  : — 

"  Want  makes  strife 
'Twixt  man  and  wife," 

which  is  another  form  of  the  well-known  couplet: — 

"  Nothing  agreeth  worse 
Than  a  lady's  heart  and  a  beggar's  purse  ; " 

since,  as  the  proverb  goes,  "  Haste  makes  waste, 
and  waste  makes  want,  and  want  makes  strife 
between  the  goodman  and  his  wife."  But  there 
is  some  consolation  in  the  fact  handed  down  by 
the  wise  men  of  old,  "  He's  that  needy  when  he  is 
married,  shall  be  rich  when  he  is  buried. "  Despite, 
however,  what  proverbial  literature  may  have 
to  say  respecting  marriage,  we  must  not  forget 
the  old  belief  that  "  Marriage  is  destiny,"  a  piece 
of  fatalism  to  which,  it  may  be  remembered, 
Shakespeare  alludes  : — 

"  The  ancient  saying  is  no  heresy, 
Hanging  and  wiving  go  by  destiny." 

This  notion  is  very  old,  and  in  the  "  Schole-hous  of 
Women/'  published  in  1 541,  we  find  it  thus 
noticed  : — 

"  Truely  some  men  there  be 

That  live  always  in  some  great  honour, 
And  say,  it  goeth  by  destiny, 

To  hang  or  wed  :  both  hath  but  one  hour." 

Heywood,  in  his  "  If  you  Know  not  Me,"  etc. 


Women  and  Marriage 


I5i 


(1605),  says  :  "  Everyone  to  his  fortune  as  men  go 
to  hanging."  It  is,  too,  the  same  as  the  Scottish 
adage,  "  Hanging  gangs  by  hap  ; "  but,  as  Hazlitt 
remarks,  "  that  polite  nation  has  agreed  to  omit 
the  other  portion,  perhaps  as  implying  an  incivility 
to  the  fair  sex." 

Another  form  of  the  same  piece  of  folk-lore  is 
the  popular  English  saying,  "  Marriages  are  made 
in  heaven  ;  "  or,  as  the  French  version  has  it, 
"  Marriages  are  written  in  heaven  ;  "  the  meaning 
being,  as  Kelly  says,  "  that  it  is  not  forethought, 
inclination,  or  mutual  fitness  that  has  the  largest 
share  in  bringing  man  and  wife  together  ;  more 
efficient  than  all  these  is  the  force  of  circumstances, 
or  what  people  vaguely  call  chance,  fate,  fortune, 
and  so  forth."  We  find  the  same  belief  prevalent 
in  Italy,  and  it  is  equivalent  to  the  Scotch  adage  : 
c<  A  man  may  woo  where  he  will,  but  must  wed 
where  he's  weird" — that  is,  where  he  is  fated 
to  wed.  The  Irish  also  have  a  proverb  that 
"  Marriage  comes  unawares,  like  a  soot-drop  ;  " 
wherein,  as  it  has  been  pointed  out  by  a  corre- 
spondent of  Notes  and  ghteries,  there  is  "an 
allusion  to  the  rain  finding  its  way  through  the 
thatch,  blackened  by  the  smoke  of  the  peat  fires;" 
a  similar  version  of  which  we  find  elsewhere  : — 


"  In  time  she  comes  whom  God  sends.' 


If  it  be  true  that  marriages  are  made  in  heaven, 
an  old  humorous  proverb  adds  this  rider :  "  If 
marriages  are  made  in  heaven,  you  have  but  few 
friends  there." 


152  Folk-Lore  of  Women 

Since  marriage,  however,  as  already  stated,  is  an 
indispensable  necessity,  proverb-philosophers  have 
framed  a  host  of  curious  maxims  for  the  guidance 
of  those  desirous  of  taking  what  they  hold  to  be 
the  fatal  step.  Thus  a  young  lady  is  reminded 
that  she  had — 

"  Better  be  an  old  man's  darling 
Than  a  young  man's  warling  ;  " 

or,  as  modern  collections  of  proverbs  read,  for 
"  warling,"  "snarling  ;  "  another  version  running 
thus  :  "  Better  have  an  old  man  to  humour  than 
a  young  man  to  break  your  heart."  And,  allud- 
ing to  young  wives,  we  may  quote  a  Dutch 
proverb — 

"  Two  cocks  in  one  house,  two  cats  and  a  mouse, 
And  an  old  man  and  a  young  wife  are  always  in  strife  ;  " 

a  version  of  which  we  find  among  the  Hindu 
proverbs — 

"  Two  cats  and  one  mouse,  and  rival  wives  in  a  house, 
And  two  dogs  with  one  bone,  can  never  get  on  together  ; " 

to  which  must  be  added  the  solemn  German 
warning  :  "A  young  wife  is  an  old  man's  post- 
horse  to  the  grave  ;  "  or,  as  another  version  puts 
it  :  "  An  old  man  who  marries  a  young  woman 
gives  an  invitation  to  death." 

Indeed,  the  proverbial  lore  of  most  countries  is 
to  the  same  effect,  the  well-known  adage  remind- 
ing us  that  "  crabbed  age  and  youth  cannot  live 
together."     Even  the   Sindhi   maxim   is  similar  : 


Women  and  Marriage  153 

"  No  use  marrying  an  old  man  and  wasting  life, 
for  while  wheat  crops  are  being  reaped  he  would 
break  down  ;  "  with  which  we  may  compare  the 
familiar  maxims,  "  Grey  and  green  make  the  worst 
medley,,,  and  a  An  old  man  who  weds  a  buxom 
young  maiden  bids  fair  to  become  a  freeman  of 
Buckingham  " — that  is,  a  cuckold. 

There  is  something  like  it  in  Scotland,  where  it 
is  said,  "  His  auld  brass  will  buy  her  a  new  pan/' 
spoken  of  young  girls  who  marry  wealthy  old 
men,  meaning  that  when  the  husband  dies  his 
money  will  help  her  to  a  younger  one,  an  allusion 
to  which  occurs  in  the  "  Tea  Table  Miscellany  " — 

"  Though  auld  Rob  Morris  be  an  elderly  man, 
Yet  his  auld  brass  it  will  buy  you  a  new  pan  ; 
Then,  daughter,  you  shouldna  be  so  ill  to  shoo, 
For  auld  Rob  Morris  is  the  man  you  maun  loo." 

The  selection  of  one  of  the  fair  sex  for  the 
married  state  has  been  made  the  subject  of  special 
warning,  and  we  are  told  that  "  He  has  great  need 
of  a  wife  that  marries  mamma's  darling,"  and 
"  He  that  goes  a  great  way  for  a  wife  is  either 
cheated,  or  means  to  cheat." 

Conventional  marriages  have  found  no  favour 
in  proverbial  wisdom,  for,  as  the  old  adage  runs — 

"  Wedlock  without  love,  they  say, 
Is  but  a  lock  without  a  key." 

The  best  advice,  on  the  whole,  is  that  of  the 
Arabic  proverb,  "  Marry  the  girl  of  a  good  family 
though    she    be    seated    on    a    mat,    very    poor." 


154  Folk-Lore  of  Women 

Again,  there  is  an  old  saying,  "  Go  down  the 
ladder  when  thou  marriest  a  wife  ;  go  up  when 
thou  choosest  a  friend  ;  "  for,  as  another  proverb 
explains  it,  "  Marry  above  your  match  and  you 
get  a  master."  This  is  undoubtedly  true,  and,  as 
they  say  in  France,  "  Who  taketh  a  wife  for  her 
dower  turns  his  back  on  freedom  ;  "  the  Spanish 
equivalent  being,  "  In  the  rich  woman's  house  she 
commands  always  and  he  never." 

In  the  choice  of  a  wife,  it  has  long  been  pro- 
verbially held  that  matrimony  has  the  most  chance 
of  success  where  equals  join  with  equals,  or,  as  the 
well-known  adage  expresses  it,  "  Like  blood,  like 
good,  like  age,  make  the  happiest  marriages." 
And  there  is  the  Italian  saying,  "  Take  a  vine 
of  a  good  soil  and  a  daughter  of  a  good  mother." 

And,  since  in  marriage  "  A  man  hath  tied  a  knot 
with  his  tongue  that  he  cannot  untie  with  all  his 
teeth,"  he  is  enjoined  to  be  wise,  and  u  in  wiving 
and  thriving  to  take  counsel  of  all  the  world  ;  " 
and  in  an  old  work,  entitled  "  The  Countryman's 
New  Commonwealth,"  published  in  1647,  this 
advice  is  given  : — 

"  In  choice  of  a  virtue  let  virtue  be  thy  guide, 
For  beauty's  a  blossom  that  fadeth  like  pride  ; 
And  wealth  without  wisdom  will  waste  far  away  : 
If  chaste  thoughts  be  lacking,  all  soon  will  decay." 

Among  further  items  of  proverbial  wisdom  we 
are  told  that,  in  the  choice  of  a  woman,  "  It  is 
better  to  marry  a  quiet  fool  than  a  witty  scold," 
although,  according  to  another  adage,  "  It  is  better 
to  marry  a  shrew  than  a  sheep  " — a  sheep  being  a 


Women  and  Marriage  155 

woman  without  individuality  or  will  of  her  own— 
a  nonentity.  Thus,  in  the  old  play  of  "  Tom 
Tyler  and  his  Wife,"  one  of  the  songs  says  : — 

"  To  marry  a  sheep,  to  marry  a  shrew, 
To  meet  with  a  friend,  to  meet  with  a  foe  : 
These  checks  of  chance  can  no  man  flie 
But  God  Himself  that  rules  the  slue." 

And  when  it  is  remembered  that — 

"  The  best  or  worst  thing  to  Man  for  his  life, 
Is  good  or  ill — choosing  his  good  or  ill  wife" — 

it  is  no  matter  of  surprise  that  he  is  warned  to 
be  prudent,  for,  as  the  old  proverb  already  quoted 
runs — 

"  Who  weds  ere  he  be  wise, 
Shall  die  ere  he  thrive." 

Chinese  folk-lore  contains  much  proverbial 
wisdom  relative  to  women  and  marriage,  much  of 
which,  if  not  always  instructive,  is  amusing.  Thus, 
it  is  said,  "  If  heaven  wants  to  rain,  or  your  mother 
to  marry  again,  nothing  can  prevent  them  ;  "  and, 
according  to  a  popular  rhyme — 

"  In  the  great  majority  of  cases, 
Wives  have  fair  and  husbands  ugly  faces  ; 
Yet  there  are  many  on  the  other  side 
Where  the  man  is  bound  to  an  ugly  bride." 

Again,  it  is  said,  "  A  talented  bridegroom  is  some- 
times married  to  a  worthless  bride,  and  a  clever 
woman  is  sometimes  matched  with  a  dolt " — an 
aphorism,  indeed,  which  is  found  in  the  proverbial 


156  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

literature  of  most  countries  ;  a  Hindustani  proverb 
warning  the  fair  sex  that  "  A  clever  maid  married 
to  a  fool  sorrows."  On  the  other  hand,  when  a 
young  girl  is  about  to  be  married,  if  the  family 
on  either  side  is  agreeable  to  the  union  of  the  two, 
it  is  considered  a  matter  for  congratulation,  for,  as 
the  Chinese  proverb  runs — 

"  Marriages,  when  properly  negotiated, 
Cause  neither  family  to  be  aggravated  ;  " 

and,  on  this  account,  a  young  lady's  parents  are 
thus  enjoined  : — 

"  In  betrothing  a  daughter  to  any  young  man, 
Very  careful  inquiry's  the  only  safe  plan  ;  " 

or,  as  another  version  has  it,  "  In  marrying  a 
daughter  select  an  excellent  son-in-law,"  and 
the  reason  for  taking  this  precaution  is  given  in 
another  admonitory  proverb  : — 

"  The  bride  that  is  linked  to  a  worthless  groom 
Is  like  a  man  buried  in  a  luckless  tomb." 

And,  it  may  be  added,  it  is  also  said,  "  In  marry- 
ing a  son  seek  a  virtuous  maiden,  and  scheme  not 
for  a  rich  dowry." 

The  bait  of  money  as  an  inducement  to  matri- 
mony has  always  been  condemned,  for,  as  the 
Dutch  say — 

"  Who  weds  a  sot  to  get  his  lot, 
Will  lose  the  cot  and  get  the  sot." 

But  perhaps  some  of  the  strictest  warnings  are 


Women  and  Marriage  157 

to  be  found  in  the  Sanskrit  folk-tales  and  proverbs, 
in  which  only  too  often  women  are  pictured  in  a 
far  from  favourable  light,  one  reason,  we  are 
told,  being  that  even  marriage  does  not  satisfy 
a  woman's  vanity,  which  is  never  satisfied.  Ac- 
cordingly, it  is  said,  "The  fire  is  never  satisfied 
with  the  addition  of  fuel,  the  ocean  with  the 
influx  of  rivers,  the  Angel  of  Death  with  the 
mortality  of  all  things  which  hath  seen  life,  nor 
a  beautiful  woman  with  the  conquest  of  all  man- 
kind ;  "  and,  it  is  added,  "  Women  will  forsake  a 
husband  who  is  possessed  of  every  good  quality — 
reputable,  comely,  good,  obsequious,  rich,  and 
generous — to  steal  to  the  company  of  some  wretch 
who  is  destitute  of  every  accomplishment  and 
virtue."  And  yet,  however  much  the  advisa- 
bility of  marriage,  in  most  countries,  may  be 
questioned,  the  Chinese  adage  must  be  allowed  to 
pass  without  contradiction  : — 

"  For  wives  your  sons  are  longing,  your  maids  for  husbands 
call; 
This  is  the  one  arena  in  which  strive  one  and  all  ;  " 

to  which  may  be  added  the  Talmud  proverb, 
which  runs  thus  :  "  God  did  not  make  woman 
from  man's  head,  that  she  should  not  rule  over 
him  ;  nor  from  his  feet,  that  she  should  not  be 
his  slave  ;  but  from  his  side,  that  she  should  be 
near  his  heart ; "  1  and,  as  it  is  said  in  Russian 
proverbial  lore,  u  All  meat  is  to  be  eaten,  all 
maids  to  be  wed." 

1  Cf.  another  Talmud  proverb  :  "  Women   are   parts   cut 
out  of  men." 


CHAPTER   XVII 


WOMEN    AS    WIVES 


"  Husband  and  wife  in  perfect  accord  are  the  music  of  the 
harp  and  lute." — Chinese  Proverb. 

"  I"  N  buying  horses  and  taking  a  wife,"  runs  an 
J^  Italian  proverb,  "  shut  your  eyes  and  com- 
mend yourself  to  God  ;  "  and,  according  to  an 
old  English  proverb,  "  One  should  choose  a  wife 
with  the  ears  rather  than  with  the  eyes,"  for  "A 
man's  best  fortune,  or  his  worst,  is  his  wife  ;  " 
whereas  another  Italian  proverb  says  that  if  a  man 
would  be  really  happy  he  should  "  praise  a  wife 
but  remain  a  bachelor." 

The  fact  that,  in  all  ages,  the  taking  of  a  wife 
has  been  regarded  as  a  hazardous  blessing  accounts 
for  the  numerous  proverbial  aphorisms  on  the 
subject  ;  for,  as  the  Scotch  say  : — 


The  gude  or  ill  hap  o'  a  gude  or  ill  life 
Is  the  gude  or  ill  choice  o'  a  gude  or  ill  wife 
158 


Women  as   Wives  159 

a  further  version  of  which  runs  as  follows  : — 

"  Him  that  has  a  good  wife  no  evil  in  life  that  may  not  be 
borne  can  befall. 
Him  that  has  a  bad  wife  no  good  thing  in  life  can  chance 
to,  that  good  you  may  call  ; " 

the  equivalent  of  which  is  found  in  China, 
"  Negligent  farming  may  induce  temporary 
poverty,  but  a  mistake  in  marrying  blights  a 
whole  life."  And  there  is  another  version, 
"  When  a  man's  vessel  is  upset  and  its  masts 
broken,  he  is  poor  for  a  time  ;  but  when  a  man 
marries  a  bad  wife  he  is  poor  for  life/'  Indeed, 
since  the  wife  is  the  key  of  the  house,  he  is  by 
general  consent  a  fortunate  man  who  alights  on 
a  good  one,  for — 

"A  little  house  well  rilled, 
A  little  land  well  tilled, 
And  a  little  wife  well  willed 
Are  great  riches." 


And 


again  :- 


"  Two  things  doth  prolong  this  life, 
A  quiet  heart  and  a  loving  wife  ; " 


whereas  a  bad  wife,  as  the  Germans  say,  "  is  the 
shipwreck  of  her  husband." 

Under  a  variety  of  forms  we  find  this  folk- 
rhyme  current  in  different  parts  of  the  country, 
and  hence,  it  is  said,  "  in  choosing  a  wife  and 
buying  a  sword,  we  ought  not  to  trust  another." 
And  so  rarely  is  a  good  wife,  we  are  told,  to  be 
found  that,  to  quote  an  old  adage,  "  there  is  one 


1 6c  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

good  wife  in  the  country,  and  every  man  thinks 
he  has  wed  her."     On  this  account — 

"  Saith  Solomon  the  wise, 
A  good  wife's  a  great  prize." 

It  is  also  said  that — 

"  A  good  wife  and  a  good  name 
Hath  no  mate  in  goods  nor  fame." 

And  that — 

"  A  good  wife  and  health 
Are  a  man's  best  wealth  " — 

the  same  idea  being  found  in  the  Chinese 
proverb,  "  Good  tempered  and  careful,  she's  a 
good  wife  indeed  ;  "  two  Eastern  proverbs,  on 
the  other  hand,  reminding  us  that  "  A  passionate 
wife  is  as  bad  as  a  house  that  leaks,"  and  "Where 
there  is  discord  it  is  the  marriage  of  two  corpses." 
Indeed,  that  a  good  wife  is  a  man's  best  helpmate 
has  been  universally  acknowledged,  a  popular 
proverb  reminding  us  that  tc  Good  housewifery 
trieth  to  rise  with  the  clock  ; "  whereas  Tusser 
truly  says,  "  111  housewifery  lieth  till  nine  of  the 
clock."  Among  similar  proverbs,  it  is  said  in 
China  that  "  the  more  a  wife  loves  her  husband 
the  more  she  corrects  his  faults  ;  "  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  according  to  a  Spanish  proverb, 
"The  woman  who  has  a  bad  husband  makes  a 
confidant  of  her  maid."  But  when  husband  and 
wife  love  each  other  and  work  together,  then,  to 
quote  a  Dutch  proverb — 

"  When  the  husband  earns  well, 
The  wife  spins  well." 


Women  as   Wives  161 

And  we  may  quote  the  Indian  proverb,  "A 
chaste  wife  is  very  bashful,  and  a  bad  one  a 
great  talker ;  "  and  there  is  the  West  Indian 
adage,  "  The  husband's  flour,  the  wife's  salt," 
meaning  that  both  should  earn  something. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  bad  wife  is  the  cause  of  a 
man's  undoing,  for  it  is  "  certain  sorrow  to  bring 
a  termagant  wife  into  a  house,"  such  a  man,  says 
a  Persian  adage,  "  being  tied  by  the  neck,  that  is 
married  to  a  bad  woman  ;  "  and,  as  we  read  in 
"Proverbs  of  Hendyng  "  : — 

"  Many  a  man  singeth 
When  he  home  bringeth 

His  young  wife  : 
Wist  he  what  he  brought, 
Weep  he  mought, 
Er  his  life  syth, 

Quoth  Hendyng" — 

the  equivalent  of  which  we  find  in  an  Eastern 
saying,  "  A  virtuous  wife  causes  her  husband  to 
be  honoured,  a  bad  one  brings  him  to  shame  ;  " 
and  there  is  the  Hindustani  adage,  "  The  house 
that  has  a  bad  wife  is  on  the  eve  of  ruin  ;  "  the 
counterpart  of  which  occurs  in  Proverbs  xii.  4, 
"  A  virtuous  woman  is  a  crown  to  her  husband, 
but  she  that  maketh  ashamed  is  as  rottenness  to 
his  house."  Equally  significant  is  the  Persian 
proverb  which  describes  a  bad  wife  as  a  tree 
growing  on  the  wall,  *.*.,  like  the  fig  tree,  which 
undermines  the  wall  by  its  roots. 

And  yet,  if  proverbial  philosophy  be  true,  "  The 
calmest    husbands    make    the    stormiest    wives." 

12 


1 62  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

But  this  evidently  is  not  always  the  case,  for 
"  When  the  husband  is  fire  and  the  wife  tow, 
the  devil  easily  sets  them  in  flames."  But  there 
is  truth  in  the  Tamil  proverb,  which  belongs  also 
to  other  countries,  "  Husbands  are  in  heaven 
whose  wives  chide  not  ; "  with  which  may  be 
compared  the  Spanish  adage,  "  It  is  a  good  horse 
that  never  stumbles,  and  a  good  wife  that  never 
grumbles/'  A  good-looking  wife,  it  would  ap- 
pear, is  not  always  a  blessing,  for — 

"  A  fair  wife,  a  wide  house,  and  a  back  door 
Will  quickly  make  a  rich  man  poor." 

She  is  supposed  to  need  looking  after,  inasmuch  as 
he  u  who  hath  a  fair  wife  needs  more  than  two 
eyes,"  and  "  he  that  hath  a  white  horse  and  a  fair 
wife  never  wants  trouble."  An  African  proverb 
reminds  us  that  "  He  who  marries  a  beauty 
marries  trouble,"  with  which  may  be  compared 
the  Spanish  one,  u  A  handsome  wife  brings  no 
fortune  ; "  and  a  Marathi  proverb  repeats  the 
same  warning,  "  A  good-looking  wife  is  the 
world's,  an  ugly  one  is  our  own."  There  is 
some  truth  in  the  Hindustani  proverb,  "  God 
protects  the  blind  man's  wife,"  for  he  cannot 
look  after  her  and  control  her  movements. 
Hence  the  warning,  "  Commend  not  your  wife, 
wine,  nor  house,"  for  fear  of  undue  advantage 
being  taken  of  the  confidence  reposed  in  another. 
The  Chinese,  on  the  other  hand,  whilst  dis- 
countenancing a  good-looking  wife  as  a  blessing, 
have  this  proverb,  a  Ugly  wives  and  stupid  maids 
are  priceless  treasures,"  for  there  is  no  chance  of 


Women  as   Wives  163 

any  one  running  away  with  them  ;  with  which 
may  be  classed  the  German  adages,  "  The  blind 
man's  wife  needs  no  paint,"  and  "  A  deaf  husband 
and  a  blind  wife  are  always  a  happy  couple." 
The  danger  of  a  man  meddling  with  another 
man's  wife — whatever  the  temptation  offered  him 
— has  been  handled  in  the  proverbial  lore  of  most 
countries,  a  good  illustration  being  that  contained 
in  Hindustani  maxims  : — 

"  Better  catch  a  serpent  and  suck  poison, 
Than  have  dealings  with  another's  wife  ;  " 

and  another  Hindustani  proverb  warns  us  that 
"  A  fool's  wife  is  every  one's  sister-in-law," 
implying  that  any  one  may  flirt  with  her ;  r 
whilst  a  West  Indian  proverb  speaks  of  "another's 
wife  as  a  poisonous  plant."  Proverbial  wisdom, 
too,  would  seem  to  be  universally  agreed  that  no 
man  but  a  fool  trusts  his  wife  to  another's  care, 
and  a  Marat  hi  maxim  enjoins  the  husband  thus  : 
a  Tie  up  and  carry  with  you  your  wife  and  your 
money  ; "  for,  as  a  Hindustani  adage  warns  us, 
u  A  shameless  wife  dances  at  others'  houses." 
But  according  to  another  Eastern  proverb,  u  That 
wife  is  best  who  never  goes  to  another's  house, 
and  fears  her  husband  as  the  cow  fears  the 
butcher  ;  "  for,  as  it  is  also  said,  "  Women  and 
children  get  lost  by  wandering  from  house  to 
house." 

There  is  a  danger,  too,  lest  a  fair  wife  should 
be  vain,  and  neglect  her  household  duties,  passing 

1  See  Fallon's  "Hindustani  Proverbs," 


164  Folk-Lore  of  Women 

her  time  in  seeking  the  admiration  of  the  outside 
world,  for  "A  woman  that  loves  to  be  at  the 
window  is  like  a  bunch  of  grapes  on  the  high- 
way." A  good  wife,  said  the  wisdom  of  our 
forefathers,  "  is  to  be  from  her  house  three  times  : 
when  she  is  christened,  married,  and  buried,"  a 
mode  of  life,  we  are  afraid,  somewhat  difficult  of 
attainment.  But,  at  any  cost,  the  prudent  man 
is  warned  by  a  host  of  proverbs  that — 

"  A  window  wench,  and  a  trotter  in  street, 
Is  never  good  to  have  a  house  to  keep." 

A  wife,  too,  of  this  stamp  is  only  too  frequently 
idle,  and  indifferent  to  everything  save  their  own 
personal  attractions  ;  and  where  the  home  is  of 
not  much  account  this  is  all  the  more  noticeable. 
Hence  the  adage  says,  "  Bare  walls  make  giddy 
housewives,"  upon  which  Ray  has  this  note  : 
"  Idle  housewives,  because  they  have  nothing 
whereabout  to  busy  themselves,  and  show  their 
good  housewifery.  We  speak  this  in  excuse  of 
the  good  woman,  who  doth,  like  St.  Paul's  widow, 
irepiEpx^Om  rag  olidag,  gad  abroad  a  little  too 
much,  or  is  blamed  for  not  giving  the  entertain- 
ment that  is  expected,  or  not  behaving  herself  as 
other  matrons  do.  She  hath  nothing  to  look 
upon  at  home.  She  is  disconsolate,  and  therefore 
seeketh  to  divert  herself  abroad  ;  she  is  inclined 
to  be  virtuous,  but  discomposed  through  poverty. 
Parallel  to  this  I  take  to  be  that  French  proverb, 
1  Vuides  chambres  font  les  dames  folles,'  which 
Cotgrave  thus   renders,   '  Empty    chambers    make 


Women  as   Wives  165 

women  play  the  wanton,'  in  a  different  sense.' ' 
In  Cheshire  the  peasantry,  speaking  of  a  young 
wife  who  grows  idle  after  marriage,  say,  "  She 
hath  broken  her  elbow  at  the  church  door." 

Such   a   wife,   again,   is   occasionally  apt   to  be 
untidy  and  slovenly  in  her  habits  : — 

"  Fair  and  sluttish,  black  and  proud, 
Long  and  lazy,  little  and  loud  ;  " 

or,  as  another  version  has  it  : — 

"  Fair  and  foolish,  little  and  loud, 
Long  and  lusty,  black  and  proud  ; 
Fat  and  merry,  lean  and  sad, 
Pale  and  pettish,  red  and  bad  ;  " 

for  "  beauty  and  folly  do  often  go  hand  in  hand, 
and  are  often  matched  together."  And  yet,  after 
all,  it  is  said,  "  There's  but  an  hour  in  the  day 
between  a  good  housewife  and  a  bad,  for,  as  Ray 
explains  it,  "  With  a  little  more  pains,  she  that 
slatters  might  do  things  neatly."  In  other 
words  : — 

"  The  wife  that  expects  to  have  a  good  name, 
Is  always  at  home  as  if  she  were  lame  ; 
And  the  maid  that  is  honest,  her  chiefest  delight 
Is  still  to  be  doing  from  morning  to  night  ; " 

which  also  has  been  expressed,  "The  foot  on  the 
cradle  and  the  hand  on  the  distaff  is  the  sign  of  a 
good  housewife."  According  to  an  old  proverb, 
"  An  obedient  wife  commands  her  husband,  which 
has  its  parallel  in  Scotland,  where  one  may  often 


1 66  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

hear  the  remark,  "  A  wife  is  wise  enough  when 
she  kens  her  gudeman's  breeks  frae  her  ain 
kirtle,"  which  has  been  thus  explained,  "  She  is  a 
good  wife  who  knows  the  true  measure  of  her 
husband's  authority  and  her  obedience  " — a 
proverb  which  is  just  the  reverse  of  the  Arabian 
one,  "  The  wife  wears  the  breeches  ;  "  or,  as  we 
should  say,  she  rules  her  husband.  But  it  is 
generally  agreed,  to  quote  the  German  adage, 
that  "  There  is  nothing  worse  on  earth  than 
when  the  wife  becomes  the  master,"  an  evil 
which  is  invariably  the  case  when  a  poor  man 
marries  a  wealthy  woman,  for,  as  they  say  in 
Spain,  "  In  the  rich  woman's  house  she  always 
commands,  he  never."  And  there  is  the  Marathi 
proverb  to  the  same  effect  :  "  She  manages  well 
whose  husband  is  a  slave  to  her  ;  "  and  another, 
"  If  the  wife  is  bigger  than  the  husband  she  will 
run  after  him  with  the  pestle."  There  is,  too,  a 
similar  Hindustani  proverb  spoken  of  a  henpecked 
husband,  "  A  man  in  the  power  of  a  woman 
dances  to  her  like  a  donkey  ;  "  to  which  is  added 
the  warning,  "  Check  your  wife  and  she'll  make 
you  suffer,"  a  further  adage  describing  the  hen- 
pecked husband  as  "  his  own  wife's  pupil."  It  is 
generally  agreed  that  no  greater  misfortune  can 
happen  to  a  man  than  to  have  a  wife  his  master, 
for,  as  a  Welsh  proverb  which  has  been  aptly 
translated  tells  us — 

"  The  rule  of  a  wife, 
A  daughter's  ill-life, 
A  son  that  is  an  untaught  clown 
May  turn  the  whole  world  upside  down  "  ; 


Women  as    Wives  167 

another  one  telling  us  that  "  Three  things  no 
credit  to  their  owners  yield,  a  ruling  wife,  lean 
horse,  and  barren  field."  And  the  German 
adage  even  goes  so  far  as  to  say  that,  in  such 
a  case,  "a  man  must  ask  his  wife's  leave  to 
thrive." 

An  old  name  for  a  hen-pecked  husband  was 
"John  Tomson's  man,"  the  phrase  having  been 
used  by  Dunbar,  who,  in  one  of  his  petitions  to 
James  IV.  for  preferment,  expresses  the  wish  that 
his  Majesty  might  for  once  be  "  John  Tomson's 
man,"  the  Queen  being  favourable  to  the  poet's 
suit  ;  and  the  term  applied  to  a  husband  whose 
wife  rules  the  roost  is  still  "  a  woman's 
kingdom." 

Although  a  wife's  wisdom  is  not  estimated  at 
a  very  high  value,  the  husband  is  enjoined  not  to 
disregard  it,  for,  as  the  proverb  says,  "A  woman's 
counsel  is  not  worth  much,  but  he  that  despises  it 
is  no  better  than  he  should  be."  The  reason  for 
this  advice  is,  as  the  Germans  say,  "  that  summer- 
sown  corn  and  women's  advice  turn  out  well  once 
in  seven  years,"  I  and,  on  this  account,  the  oppor- 
tunity, however  remote,  of  its  proving  advan- 
tageous should  not  be  thrown  away.  A  Servian 
proverb  says  that  "  It  is  sometimes  right  even  to 
obey  a  sensible  wife,"  in  illustration  of  which 
Kelly  gives  the  following  humorous  little 
anecdote  :  2  A  Herzegovinian  once  asked  a  kadi 
whether  a  man  ought  to  obey  his  wife,  where- 
upon   the     kadi     answered    that    there    was    no 

1  See  Chapter  on  "Women's  Characteristics." 

2  "  Proverbs  of  all  Nations." 


1 68  Folk-Lore  of  Women 

occasion  to  do  so.  The  Herzegovinian  then 
continued,  "  My  wife  pressed  me  this  morning 
to  bring  thee  a  pot  of  beef  suet,  so  I  have 
done  well  in  not  obeying  her."  Then  said  the 
kadi,  "  Verily,  it  is  sometimes  right  even  to 
obey  a  sensible  wife." 

We  find  various  qualifications,  however,  in  the 
matter  of  following  a  wife's  counsel,  one  proverb 
saying,  "  Take  your  wife's  first  advice,  not  her 
second,"  the  reason  assigned  being  that  "  Women 
are  wise  offhand,  and  fools  on  reflection."  But 
perhaps  the  best  rule  is  this,  "  In  the  husband 
wisdom,  in  the  wife  gentleness,"  for  it  is  said, 
according  to  the  Talmud  maxim,  "  Even  though 
thy  wife  be  little,  bow  down  to  her  in  speaking  ;  " 
in  other  words,  be  kind  to  her  and  do  nothing 
without  her  advice ;  and  the  Chinese  have  a 
proverb  much  to  the  same  effect  : — 

"  A  good  man  will  not  beat  his  wife, 
A  good  dog  will  not  worry  a  fowl." 

And  the  Russian  proverb  tells  us  that  the  wife 
ought  to  be  treated  with  due  respect,  for  "  She  is 
not  a  guitar,  which,  having  done  playing  with,  the 
husband  hangs  on  the  wall."  An  Eastern  proverb 
offers  different  advice  when  it  says,  "  Beat  a 
bullock  every  other  furrow,  and  a  wife  every 
other  day." 

According  to  a  popular  adage,  "  Wife  and 
children  are  bills  of  charge,"  and  "A  fair  wife 
without  a  fortune  is  a  fine  house  without 
furniture  ;  "  and,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  said 
that  "  A  poor  man's  wife  is  always  underrated." 


Women  as   Wives  169 

It  is  frequently  said,  too,  that  an  extravagant  wife 
makes  even  a  rich  man  poor,  which  reminds  us  of 
the  gipsy's  rhyme  : — 

"  A  man  may  spare, 

And  still  be  bare, 
If  his  wife  be  nowt,  if  his  wife  be  nowt  ; 

But  a  man  may  spend, 

And  have  money  to  lend, 
If  his  wife  be  owt,  if  his  wife  be  owt." 

But  there  is  the  reverse  side  of  the  picture,  an 
illustration  of  which  we  may  take  from  Hindustani 
proverbial  lore,  which,  speaking  of  the  extravagant 
husband,  says,  "  My  lord  is  a  dandy  abroad,  but 
at  home  there  is  a  dragged  tailed  wife ; "  "  Abroad 
my  lord  goes  in  gorgeous  array,  with  a  naked  wife 
at  home  ;  "  and  "  Abroad  he  is  my  lord  governor, 
at  home  lies  a  victim  of  fate,"  that  is,  "  she  is  a 
poor,  miserable  creature."  But  when  a  man  is 
rich,  and  is  liberal  to  his  wife,  the  case  is  different, 
for  a  world-wide  adage  says,  "  A  rich  man's  wife 
is  always,  respected  ;  "  and  hence  u  A  house  well 
furnished  makes  a  good  housewife."  Gossiping 
wives  are  to  be  avoided,  for,  as  an  Eastern 
proverb  says,  "  The  gadding  wife  will  see  a 
snake  in  the  fire,"  that  is,  will  make  any  excuse 
to  run  out  ;  and  as  the  Yorkshire  peasantry  are 
wont  to  say,  "  A  rouk-town's  seldom  a  good 
housewife  at  home,"  a  "rouk-town"  being  a 
nickname  for  a  gossiping  housewife  who  spends 
her  time  in  going  from  house  to  house.  Similarly, 
there  is  a  Sinhalese  proverb  to  this  effect,  "  You 
must  get  a  talkative  wife  if  you  wish  to  receive 
slaps  on  the  face  from  every  one,"  for  she  is  sure, 


170  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

sooner  or  later,  to  make  mischief;  and  an  old 
English  proverbial  phrase  reiterates  the  same 
warning  : — 

"  A  young  wife  and  a  harvest  goose, 
Much  cackle  will  both  ; 
A  man  that  hath  them  in  his  clos  [possession] 
He  shall  rest  wroth."  x 

The  Chinese  say,  "  A  young  wife  should  be  in 
her  house  but  a  shadow  and  an  echo/'  And  this 
trait  of  woman's  character  is  viewed  in  no  favour- 
able way  in  proverbial  lore,  for  a  Suffolk  aphorism 
defines  a  young  lady  who  is  over  inquisitive  as 
being  "  fond  of  gape-seed,"  that  is,  staring  at 
everything  that  passes. 

Incidental  allusions  have  been  made  to  indis- 
creet selection  of  wives,  and  it  is  said  that  he  who 
marries  for  love  without  money  will  have  good 
nights  and  sorry  days ;  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  following  folk-rhyme  tells  only  too  often  the 
experience  of  many  : — 

"  Sorrow  and  an  evil  life, 
Maketh  soon  an  old  wife." 

According  to  another  rhyme,  we  are  told 
how  he — 

"  Who  builds  his  house  of  sallows, 
And  pricks  his  blind  horse  over  the  fallows, 
And  suffereth  his  wife  to  go  seek  hallows, 
Ts  worthy  to  be  hanged  on  the  gallows." 


1  MS.  or  fifteenth  century  in  "  Relig.  Antiq.,"  ii.  113, 
quoted  by  W.  Carew  Hazlitt,  "English  Proverbs  and  Pro- 
verbial  Phrases,"   1869,  p.  41. 


Women  as   Wives  171 


And  once  more  :  — 

"  He  that  hath  a  good  neighbour  hath  a  good  morrow, 
He  that  hath  a  shrewd  wife  hath  much  sorrow, 
He  that  fast  spendeth  must  needs  borrow, 
But  when  he  must  pay  again  there  is  all  the  sorrow." 

A  man  who  takes  to  himself  a  wife  is  warned 
against  expecting  that  he  will  have  nothing  but 
success,  for,  as  it  is  said — 

"  A  man  may  not  wive, 
And  also  thrive, 
And  all  in  a  year." 

That  the  wife  who  has  a  grievance  will  be  sure  to 
make  it  known  is  exemplified  in  such  adages  as 
the  following  :  "  She  that  marries  ill  never  wants 
something  to  say  for  it  ;  "  or,  as  another  one  puts 
it,  "  She  that  hath  an  ill  husband  shows  it  in  her 
dress  ;  "  and  again,  "Women,  priests,  and  poultry 
have  never  enough."  There  are  many  curious 
folk-rhymes  of  a  descriptive  character,  of  which 
the  following  is  a  specimen  : — 

"  A  baker's  wife  may  bite  of  a  bun, 
A  brewer's  wife  may  drink  of  a  tun, 
A  fishmonger's  wife  may  feed  of  a  conger, 
But  a  serving  man's  wife  may  starve  for  hunger." 

Among  some  of  the  many  other  wise  sayings, 
we  are  told  in  Scotland,  "  Better  the  mother  wi' 
the  pock  than  the  faither  wi'  the  Jack,"  the  mean- 
ing being,  says  Kelly,  that  "  the  mother,  though 
in  a  low  condition,  will  be  more  kindly  to,  and 
more  careful  of,  orphans,  than  the  father  can  be, 


1J2  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

though  in  a  better."  And  yet,  after  all,  despite 
all  their  faults  : — 

"  Wives  must  be  had, 
Be  they  good  or  bad." 

For,  as  the  Chinese  say,  "  Husband  and  wife  in 
perfect  concord  are  like  the  music  of  the  harp 
and  lute  ;  "  and  again,  "  A  man  without  a  wife 
has  a  home  without  a  mistress  ;  and  a  woman 
without  a  husband  is  an  unprotected  being  ;  "  or, 
as  another  version  has  it,  "  A  woman  without 
a  husband  is  like  the  sand  of  the  river,"  the  Ger- 
man form  being,  "  A  woman  without  a  husband, 
a  house  without  a  foundation."  It  is,  too,  further 
said  that  "  The  beauty  of  a  woman  without  a 
husband  is  in  vain ;  "  and  conversely,  "  A  man 
without  a  wife  is  a  house  without  a  roof." 
There  are  many  forms  of  this  proverbial  piece 
of  wisdom,  the  following  being  found  among 
Hindustani  proverbs  :  "  Without  a  wife  the  house 
doth  howl  ;  "  c<  Without  a  wife  the  house  is  the 
abode  of  the  devil  ;  "  but  "  With  a  wife  the  house 
doth  joy  ;  "  and  "  the  death  of  the  wife  is  ruin  to 
the  house  ;  "  and,  once  more,  "  With  the  housewife 
the  house  is  lively,  without  the  housewife  the  house 
is  dull ;  "  and,  according  to  a  Marathi  proverb, 
"  The  husband  is  the  life  of  the  woman." 

Some  of  the  proverbial  experiences  relative  to 
second  wives  are  amusing  and  instructive,  an  old 
maxim  observing  that  "  the  man  who  has  taken 
one  wife  deserves  a  crown  of  patience,  the  man 
who  has  taken  two  deserves  two  crowns  of  pity  ;  " 
but  a  German  proverb  takes  a  different  view,  "  A 


Women  as   Wives 


173 


man  who  marries  a  second  time  deserves  not  to 
have  lost  his  first  wife,"  and  adds,  "  To  marry  once 
a  duty,  twice  a  folly,  thrice  it's  madness." 

Spanish  lore  tells  us  that  "  the  first  wife  is  a 
broom,  the  second  a  lady  ;  "  which  is  much  the 
same  as  the  German  adage,  "  the  first  wife  is  a 
servant,  the  second  a  lady."  Among  Kashmiri 
proverbs,  too,  we  find  much  the  same  opinion 
expressed  : — 

"The  first  wife  is  as  jasmine  and  income  ; 
The  second  wife  swears  hourly  by  your  name  ; * 
The  third  wife  cuts  bridges,  great  and  small  ; 2 
The  fourth  wife — there  is  no  one  like  her  for  all  manner 
of  wickedness.     She  is  a  hopeless  character."  3 

The  Italians,  who  have  an  extensive  collection 
of  proverbs  relating  to  the  choice  of  wives,  many 
of  which  are  very  humorous,  say  that  "  the  first 
wife  is  matrimony,  the  second  company,  the  third 
heresy  ;  "  and  in  Germany  a  young  wife  is  often 
reminded  of  the  proverb,  "  The  jealousy  of  the 
wife  is  the  path  to  divorce." 

It  was  a  popular  belief  that  the  features  of  those 
who  have  been  long  married  assimilate,  and  become 
like  each  other — a  pretty  idea  thus  described  by 
the  late  Lord  Tennyson  : — 

"  But  that  God  bless  thee,  dear — who  wrought 
Two  spirits  to  one  equal  mind, 
With  blessings  beyond  hope  or  thought, 
With  blessings  which  no  words  can  find  ;  " 


1  Makes  great  professions  of  love. 

2  Mischievous  and  extravagant. 

3  See  J.  H.  Knowles,  "  Kashmiri  Proverbs,' 


885. 


174  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

and  which  Sir  Walter  Scott,  in  his  "  Lay  of  the 
Last  Minstrel,"  has  thus  noticed  : — 

"  It  is  the  secret  sympathy, 
The  silver  link,  the  silken  tie, 
Which  heart  to  heart,  and  mind  to  mind, 
In  body  and  in  soul  can  bind  "  — 

a  widespread  fragment  of  folk-lore  which  has 
found  its  way  into  many  an  old  romance  and 
legendary  tale  ;  and  a  further  pretty  illustration 
of  which  we  quote  from  Moore's  "  Loves  of 
the  Angels  "  : — 

"  Whose  hearts  in  every  thought  are  one, 
Whose  voices  utter  the  same  wills, 
Answering,  as  echo  doth,  some  tone 

Of  fairy  music  'mong  the  hills, 
So,  like  myself,  we  seek  in  vain 
Which  is  the  echo,  Which  the  strain." 

And  we  may  quote  the  Spanish  adage,  "  Observe 
the  face  of  the  wife  to  know  the  husband's  charac- 
ter ;  "  and  contrariwise  a  Marathi  proverb  puts  it, 
the  most  important  point  in  home-life  is  the 
character  of  the  wife,  for  "  if  the  wife  be  sen- 
sible there  will  be  good  management,  if  not  there 
will  be  ruin."  And  again,  the  Hindu  proverb,  of 
which  there  are  sundry  versions  elsewhere,  says, 
"  patience,  rectitude,  friend,  and  wife,  all  four  are 
tested  by  calamity,"  for,  speaking  of  the  average 
wife,  it  is  added,  "  She  loves  and  she  serves,  but  in 
the  time  of  need  she's  off." 


CHAPTER   XVIII 

YOUNG      AND      OLD      MAIDS 

"  The  hand  of  time  alone  disarms 
Her  face  of  its  superfluous  charms, 
But  adds  for  every  grace  resigned, 
A  thousand  to  adorn  her  mind." 

Broome. 

"^HKRE  is  a  wide  difference  between  the 
young  girl  about  to  enter  life,  and  the 
middle-aged  spinster  soured  by  disappointed 
hopes,  and  hence  the  Hindustani  proverb  asks, 
"  What  is  the  good  of  mincing  when  you  are  grow- 
ing old  ?  "  Some  allowance  must  be  made  for  the 
petulancy  and  coquetry  of  youth,  and  an  old  adage 
of  proverbial  philosophy  has  perhaps  saved  many 
an  inexperienced  swain  from  marrying  a  penniless 
girl  barely  out  of  the  schoolroom,  by  whispering 
in  his  ear,  "  Sweetheart  and  honeybird  keeps  no 
house  ; "  and  although  the  spirit  of  chivalry  has 
always  prompted  mankind  to  see  nothing  but 
good  in  maidenhood,  yet  a  Spanish  proverb  has 
boldly  put    this  question,  "  All  are  good  maids, 

175 


176  Folk-Lore  of  Women 

but  whence  come  the  bad  wives  ?  "  which  the 
proverbial  lore  of  our  own  and  other  countries 
has  wisely  left  unanswered.1 

Girlhood,  as  it  has  been  often  said,  is  fleeting 
and  fragile  ;  and,  according  to  a  Scotch  proverb, 
"  Glasses  and  lasses  are  brackle  [brittle]  wares." 
Another  piece  of  Scotch  folk-lore  referring  to  the 
transitoriness  of  youth,  says  that  "  Lassies  are 
like  lamb-legs  ;  they'll  neither  saut  nor  keep  ;  " 
whereas  Hindustani  lore  tells  us  that  "  Maiden- 
hood is  perennial  spring."  . 

If  we  may  credit  the  verdict  of  our  forefathers, 
a  characteristic  of  inexperienced  girlhood  is  doing 
the  very  thing  which  is  declared  to  be  impossible. 
Thus,  it  is  said,  "  Maids  say  nay  and  take  " — a 
kiss,  a  ring,  or  an  offer  of  marriage.  A  similar 
adage,  says  Mr.  Jeaffreson,2  "  *  The  maid  that 
taketh  yieldeth,'  was  often  quoted  in  old  time  by 
the  pedantical  jurists,  who  declared  that  by  taking 
a  ring  a  girl  yielded  to  the  entreaties  of  her  suitor 
even  to  the  point  of  becoming  his  spouse." 

Her  hesitancy,  too,  has  usually  placed  her  at  the 
mercy  of  her  pursuer.  "  The  maid  that  laughs," 
says  proverbial  lore,  "  is  half  taken  ;"  and  it  takes 
care  to  add,  "  the  woman  that  wavers  is  lost." 

Many  a  young  girl,  we  are  told,  loses  her  oppor- 
tunity of  marriage  through  either  not  being  able 
to  make  up  her  mind,  or  owing  to  her  not  being 
satisfied  with  one  sweetheart,  hence  the  saying, 
"  A  lass  that  has  many  wooers  oft  fares  the 
worst." 

1  See  Chapter  on  "  Woman's  Goodness." 

2  "  Brides  and  Bridals,"  i.  p.  349. 


Young  and  Old  Maids  177 

As  might  be  expected,  the  wise  saws  of  old  had 
much  to  say  about  the  treatment  of  young  ladies, 
and  according  to  a  well-known  Scotch  proverb, 
"  Maidens  should  be  mim  till  they're  married,  and 
then  they  may  burn  kirks,"  which  Kelly  thus 
explains  :  "  Spoken  often  by  way  of  reflection, 
when  we  say  that  such  an  one  is  a  good-humoured 
girl,  as  if  you  would  say,  *  Observe  how  she'll 
prove  when  she  is  married. '  " 

The  monitor,  it  has  been  observed,  had  some 
true  knowledge  of  human  nature,  who,  "  for  the 
benefit  of  lads  pursuing  jealously-guarded  damsels,'' 
produced  the  couplet  : — 

"  He  that  would  the  daughter  win, 
Must  with  her  mother  first  begin  ;  " 

or,  as  another  version  has  it,  "  Daughters  and 
dead  fish  are  no  keeping  wares,"  implying  that 
daughters  should  be  married  and  dead  fish  eaten, 
otherwise  they  will  both  spoil  in  the  hands  of  their 
possessors.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  mothers  are 
reminded  that  it  is  far  from  an  easy  thing  always 
to  find  a  husband  for  her  daughter,  hence  it  is 
said,  "  Marry  your  son  when  you  will,  your 
daughter  when  you  can,"  an  admonition,  indeed, 
which  explains  the  following  :  "  Marriageable 
foolish  wenches  are  troublesome  troops  to  keep." 
It  is  further  added,  "  Marry  your  daughters 
betimes,  lest  they  marry  themselves." 

There  would  seem  to  be  some  art  in  courting  a 
fair  maiden,  for  "  he  that  woos  a  maid  must  feign, 
lie,    and   flatter,"   whereas  another    proverb  says, 

!3 


178  Folk- Lore  of  Women 


"  He  that  woos  a  maid  must  come  seldom  in  her 
sight,"  or,  in  other  words,  he  must  avoid  excess  of 
eagerness  in  courting,  for — 

"  Follow  love,  and  it  will  flee, 
Flee  love,  and  it  will  follow  thee." 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  it  must  not  be  forgotten 
that — 

"  Lad's  love  is  lassie's  delight, 
And  if  lads  won't  love,  lassies  will  flite  " 

— -flite  meaning  to  scold,  the  same  as  the  Scottish 
flit. 

Daughters,  it  is  said,  generally  take  after  their 
mothers,  "  Like  mother,  like  daughter,"  although 
there  are  many  exceptions  to  this  rule,  for  an  old 
proverb  says,  "  A  light  heel'd  mother  makes  a 
heavy  heel'd  daughter,"  because  she  does  all  the 
work  herself,  and  her  daughter  in  the  meantime 
sitting  idle,  contracts  a  habit  of  sloth.  Similarly 
in  France  we  find  the  same  idea,  "  Mere  pitieuse 
fait  sa  fille  rogneuse  " — "  A  tender  mother  makes 
a  scabby  daughter." 

From  time  immemorial  the  old  maid  has  been 
made  an  object  of  ridicule,  and  the  only  thing 
according  to  proverbial  folk-lore  that  she  is  fit  for 
is  to  "  lead  apes  in  hell "  : — 

"  And  now,  Tatlanthe,«thou  art  all  my  care  : 
Pity  that  you,  who've  served  so  long  and  well, 
Should  die  a  virgin,  and  lead  apes  in  hell. 
Choose  for  yourself,  dear  girl,  our  Empire  round, 
Your  portion  is  three  hundred  thousand  pound." 


Young  and  Old  Maids  179 

Shakespeare  makes  Katherine  say  to  her  father 
in  allusion  to  Bianca  : — 

"  She  is  your  treasure,  she  must  have  a  husband. 
I  must  dance  barefoot  on  her  wedding-day, 
And  for  your  love  to  her  lead  apes  in  hell." 

Malone,  on  this  passage,  remarks  that  in  olden 
times  "  to  lead  apes  "  was  one  of  the  employments 
of  a  bear-ward,  who  often  carried  about  one  of 
those  animals  along  with  his  bear.  It  was  also 
customary,  in  days  gone  by,  for  elder  sisters  to 
dance  barefooted  at  the  marriage  of  a  younger  one, 
as  otherwise  they  would  inevitably  become  old 
maids. 

In  different  parts  of  the  country,  too,  a  custom 
once  practised  was  that  of  the  elder  sister  dancing 
in  a  hog's  trough  in  consequence  of  the  younger 
sister  marrying  before  her — when  it  was  considered 
the  most  correct  thing  to  dance  in  green  stockings. 

"  In  Spain,"  writes  Mr.  Finck,  "  old  maids  are 
rare,  because  a  girl  generally  accepts  her  first  offer, 
and  there  are  probably  not  many  girls  who  do  not 
receive  at  least  one  offer  in  their  life.  In  Russia 
a  curious  custom  prevails  whereby  a  girl  of  uncer- 
tain age  may  escape  the  appellation  of  old  maid. 
She  may  leave  home  and  become  lost  for  two  or 
three  years  in  Paris,  London,  or  some  other  howl- 
ing wilderness  of  humanity.  Then  she  may  return 
to  her  friends  neither  as  maid  nor  wife,  but  as  a 
widow.  And  it  is  good  form  in  Russian  Society 
to  accept  this  myth  without  asking  for  details." 

In  Scotland  there  is  a  time-honoured  adage, 
"  Oh  for  a  drap  o'  gentle  blude,  that  1  may  wear 


180  Folk-Lore  of  Women 

black  abune  my  brow,"  which  shows  that  an  old 
maid  fares  worse  there  than  elsewhere.  "  In  Scot- 
land," writes  Kelly,  "  no  woman  is  suffered  to 
wear  a  silk  hood  unless  she  be  a  gentlewoman,  that 
is,  a  gentleman's  daughter,  or  married  to  a  gentle- 
man. A  rich  maid  having  the  offer  of  a  wealthy 
yeoman,  or  a  bare  gentleman,  wished  for  the  last 
to  qualify  her  to  wear  a  black  hood.  It  is  since 
spoken  to  such  wealthy  maidens  upon  the  like 
occasion." 

Some  allowance  must  be  made  for  old  maids  if 
they  are  proverbially  sour  and  crabby — "  As  spite- 
ful as  an  old  maid,"  as  the  phrase  goes — and  apt 
to  speak  in  a  disparaging  manner  of  their  younger 
sisters.  Thus,  in  Scotland  and  the  North  of 
England,  one  may  often  hear  some  prim  spinster 
remark,  "  Lassies  nowadays  ort  nae  God's 
creatures " — this  being,  says  Jamieson,  "  the 
proverbial  reflection  of  an  old  woman,  as  signify- 
ing that  in  our  times  young  women  are  by  no 
means  nice  in  their  choice  of  husbands." 

But  it  only  too  often  happens  that  the  old  maid 
tries  to  appear  juvenile,  and  hence  in  Lancashire, 
when  inquiries  respecting  the  health  of  an  absent 
friend  are  made,  the  subjoined  couplet  is  frequently 
quoted  by  way  of  reply  : — 

"  Quite  young  and  all  alive, 
Like  an  old  maid  of  forty-live." 

There  comes,  however,  a  time  when  such  frolic- 
some ways  have  to  be  abandoned,  and  then  it  is 
said  of  a  woman,  when  there  is  no  disguising  her 
age,  "  This  maid  was  born  old." 


Young  and  Old  Maids  181 

But,  however  much  old  maids  may  be  exposed 
to  undeserved  ridicule,  many  a  piece  of  romance 
tells  how  invariably  such  a  fate  is  due  to  no  fault 
of  their  own,  as  is  instanced  by  the  following 
traditionary  tale  : — 

"  Years  ago  some  Welsh  miners,  in  exploring 
an  old  pit  that  had  long  been  closed,  found  the 
body  of  a  young  man  dressed  in  a  fashion  long  out 
of  date.  The  peculiar  action  of  the  air  of  the 
mine  had  been  such  as  to  preserve  the  body  so 
perfectly  that  it  appeared  asleep  rather  than 
dead. 

"  The  miners  were  puzzled  at  the  circumstance  ; 
no  one  in  the  district  had  been  missed  within  their 
remembrance  ;  and  at  last  it  was  resolved  to  bring 
the  oldest  inhabitant — an  old  lady,  long  past  her 
eightieth  year,  who  had  lived  single  in  the  village 
the  whole  of  her  life.  On  being  brought  into  the 
presence  of  the  body,  a  strange  scene  occurred  ; 
the  old  lady  fell  on  the  corpse,  kissed,  and 
addressed  it  in  every  term  of  loving  endearment, 
couched  in  the  quaint  language  of  a  bygone 
generation.  ■  He  was  her  only  love  ;  she  had 
waited  for  him  during  her  long  life  ;  she  knew 
that  he  had  not  forsaken  her.' 

"  The  old  woman  and  the  young  man  had  been 
betrothed  sixty  years  before.  The  lover  had  dis- 
appeared mysteriously,  and  she  had  kept  faithful 
during  that  long  interval.  Time  had  stood  still 
with  the  dead  man,  but  had  left  its  mark  on  the 
living  woman.  The  miners  who  were  present 
were  a  rough  set  ;  but  very  gently,  and  with  tear- 
ful eyes,  they  escorted  the  old  lady  to  her  house. 


1 82  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

and  the  same  night  her  faithful  spirit  rejoined  that 
of  her  long-lost  lover." 

And  it  must  be  remembered  that,  after  all  the 
severe  judgment  which  has  been  passed  by  cynical 
proverbial  lore  on  old  maids,  much  has  been  said 
in  their  favour  ;  for,  according  to  a  Bengal  adage, 
"  A  clever  woman  is  not  old,  though  aged,  but 
has  the  sweet  sap  of  wit  in  her  ;  "  and  a  Sinhalese 
saying  reminds  us  that,  whatever  its  surroundings, 
and  wherever  found,  "  A  gem  is  a  gem  ;  "  and  yet, 
according  to  Hindustani  l  proverbial  lore,  "  An 
old  maid  is  a  pack  of  evil/' 

1   See  Fallon's  "  Hindustani  Proverbs." 


r^ 


CHAPTER   XIX 


WIDOWS 


"  May  widows  wed  as  often  as  they  can, 
And  ever  for  the  better  change  their  man  ; 
And  some  devouring  plague  pursue  their  lives 
Who  will  not  well  be  govern'd  by  their  wives." 

Dryden's  Wife  of  Bath. 

WIDOWS,  who  have  been  described  in  a 
Chinese  proverb  as  so  many  rudderless 
boats,  have  had  at  all  times  the  reputation  of  being 
dangerous ;  and  proverbial  philosophy  has  been 
more  or  less  severe  on  them,  an  oft-quoted  German 
maxim  affirming  that  "  Women  lose  their  husbands, 
but  they  worship  their  bonnets."  Hindustani 
proverbial  lore  inculcates  much  the  same  lesson  : 
"  The  husband  dead,  and  she  continues  to  dress 
her  hair  ;  "  and  another  oft-quoted  maxim  telling 
how,  "  Forgetting  the  olden  time,  the  widow  is 
bearing  a  marriage  chaplet,"  in  other  words, 
making  a  display  of  herself,  and  which,  we  are 
told,  in  a  wider  sense,  is  commonly  applied  to 
those  who  in  prosperity  have  forgotten  the  mean- 

183 


184  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

ness  of  their  origin.1  On  the  other  hand,  the 
widows  who  frequently  make  the  greatest  display 
of  sorrow  are  said  to  be  those  who  are  indifferent 
to  their  husband's  happiness  when  alive,  a  fact 
which  is  noticed  even  in  a  Marathi  proverb  : 
"  While  he  was  alive  she  was  not  affectionate,  now 
he  is  dead  she  breaks  her  necklaces  and  bangles  "  ; 
and  another  Marathi  proverb  warns  us  that  for  a 
new  husband  a  woman's  love  lasts  nine  days,  and 
for  a  dead  one  only  three  days.  According  to 
Charles  Mackay,  in  his  "Safe  Predictions" — 

"  Whene'er  you  see  a  widow  weeping 

In  public  sight, 
And  still  in  flagrant  notice  keeping 

Her  doleful  plight, 
Aye  talking  of  her  dear  departed  ; 

One  truth  is  plain, 
She  will  not  languish  broken-hearted, 

But  wed  again  "  ; 

for,  as  the  Spanish  proverb  says,  "  A  buxom 
widow  must  be  either  married,  buried,  or  shut 
up  in  a  convent  ; "  and,  as  the  Marathi  adage 
adds,  "  Neither  hair  nor  anything  yet  a  widow  is 
attractive."  In  an  old  piece  of  proverbial  wisdom 
a  man  is  strictly  enjoined  to  keep  himself  "  from 
the  anger  of  a  great  man,  from  the  tumult  of  a 
mob,  from  a  man  of  ill  fame,  from  a  widow  that 
has  been  thrice  married,  from  wind  that  cometh  in 
at  a  hole,  and  from  a  reconciled  enemy  ;  "  and  an 
old  Chinese  proverb  warns  us  how  "  Slanders 
cluster  round  a  widow's  door." 

1  See  S.  W.  Fallon's  "  Hindustani  Proverbs." 


Widows  185 


There  are  very  many  reasons  given  for  not 
marrying  a  widow,  especially  when  she  may 
happen  to  have  daughters  ;  for  "  He  that  marries 
a  widow  and  two  daughters  marries  three  stark 
thieves  ;  "  or,  as  another  version  has  it,  "  He  that 
marries  a  widow  and  two  daughters  has  three  back 
doors  to  his  house."  The  same  notion  largely 
prevails  on  the  Continent,  and  the  Spanish  say, 
"  He  that  marries  a  widow  and  three  children 
marries  four  thieves,"  the  idea,  of  course,  being 
that  his  wife  will  put  away,  as  Kelly  says,  "  things 
to  them,  or  for  them."  Under  one  form  or 
another  we  find  the  same  piece  of  proverbial 
wisdom  in  most  countries,  and  a  common  Hindu- 
stani adage  reminds  the  man  who  is  fascinated  by 
a  widow  that,  as  a  rule,  "  there  is  very  little  in  the 
widow's  pocket." 

Again,  it  is  said  that  "  he  who  marries  a  widow 
will  often  have  a  dead  man's  head  thrown  in  his 
dish  ; "  and  on  this  account,  according  to  the  old 
adage,  "  Never  marry  a  widow  unless  her  first 
husband  was  hanged,"  as  in  this  case  there  will  be 
little  likelihood  of  her  sounding  his  praises. 

But,  unfortunately  for  widows,  they  have  gene- 
rally been  considered  of  a  more  or  less  designing 
turn  of  mind,  oftentimes,  however,  in  the  fresh- 
ness of  their  grief,  making  resolutions  which  after- 
wards they  are  only  too  eager  to  break.  Thus, 
Voltaire,  in  one  of  his  romances,  represents  a  dis- 
consolate widow  vowing  that  she  will  never  marry 
again  "  so  long  as  the  river  flows  by  the  side  of 
the  hill."  But  a  few  months  afterwards  she 
recovers  from  her  loss,  and,  contemplating  matri- 


1 86  Folk-Lore  of  Women 

mony,  takes  counsel  with  a  clever  engineer.  He 
sets  to  work,  the  river  is  deviated  from  its  course, 
and  in  a  short  time  it  no  longer  flows  by  the 
side  of  the  hill.  The  lady,  released  from  all  her 
good  intentions,  does  not  allow  many  days  to 
elapse  before  she  exchanges  her  weeds  for  a 
bridal  veil. 

Improbable  as  this  little  romance  may  seem,  a 
veritable  instance  was  recorded  not  so  very  long 
ago  :  A  Salopian  parish  clerk,  seeing  a  woman 
crossing  the  churchyard  with  a  bundle  and  a  water- 
ing can,  followed  her,  curious  to  know  what  her 
intentions  might  be,  and  he  discovered  that  she 
was  a  widow  of  a  few  months'  standing.  Inquiring 
what  she  was  going  to  do  with  the  watering  can, 
she  replied  that  she  was  about  to  sow  some  grass 
seed  on  her  husband's  grave,  and  had  brought  a 
little  water  to  make  it  spring  up  quickly.  The 
clerk  told  her  there  was  no  occasion  to  trouble  ; 
the  grave  would  be  green  in  good  time. 

"  Ah  !  that  may  be,"  she  answered  ;  "  but  my 
poor  husband  made  me  promise  not  to  marry 
again  until  the  grass  had  grown  over  his  grave, 
and  having  a  good  offer,  I  do  not  wish  to  break 
my  promise,  or  keep  as  I  am  longer  than  I  can 
help." 

But  many  widows,  it  would  seem,  do  not  care 
to  wait  so  long  a  time,  for  the  adage  runs  that 
"  A  good  time  for  courtship  is  when  the  widow 
returns  from  the  funeral ;  "  and,  as  another  version 
has  jt,  u  Marry  a  widow  before  she  leaves  mourn- 
ing ;  "  or,  as  the  Germans  say,  u  Woo  the  widow 
whilst   she   is   in   weeds  " — proverbial   philosophy 


Widows  187 


which  would  seem  to  illustrate  the  popular  maxim 
that  "  Few  women  turn  grey  because  their  husbands 
die."  Indeed,  if  there  be  any  truth  in  the  old 
proverb,  "  The  tears  of  a  young  widow  lose  their 
bitterness  when  wiped  by  the  hands  of  love  ;  "  or, 
as  the  German  proverb  puts  it,  "  The  rich  widow's 
tears  soon  dry  ;  "  and  another,  "  A  rich  widow 
weeps  with  one  eye  and  laughs  with  the  other." 
The  man,  however,  who  is  fascinated  by  a  widow's 
charms  is  recommended  to  bear  this  couplet  in 
mind — 

"  He  that  woos  a  maid  must  seldom  come  in  sight, 
But  he  that  woos  a  widow  must  woo  her  day  and  night " — 

which  is  contrary  to  the  generally  received  maxim, 
"  A  woman  is  like  your  shadow  :  follow  her,  she 
flies  ;  fly  from  her,  she  follows." 

The  best  thing,  of  course,  according  to  pro- 
verbial philosophy,  is  to  avoid  widows  ;  and,  like 
Mr.  Tony  Weller,  who  marries  a  widow,  landlady 
of  the  "  Marquis  of  Granby,"  it  says  :  "  Sam,  beware 
of  the  widders  ; "  and  yet  it  would  appear  to  be 
the  chief  function  of  a  well-endowed  widow  to 
enrich  landless  younger  sons,  and  in  "  The  Con- 
tention "  the  wife  says  to  the  lady  in  black — 

"  Go,  widow,  make  some  younger  brother  rich, 
And  then  take  thought  and  die,  and  all  is  well." 

Some  of  the  common  deceits  of  a  widow  are 
enumerated  by  Sir  John  Davies  in  his  portrait  of  a 
widow,  who,  because  she  was  incapable  of  them,  is 


1 88  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

mentioned  among  the  "  Twelve  Wonders  of  the 
World  "  :— 


"  My  husband  knew  how  much  his  death  would  give  me, 
And  therefore  left  me  wealth  to  comfort  and  relieve  me  ; 
Though  I  no  more  will  have,  I  must  not  love  disdain, 
Penelope  herself  did  lovers  entertain — 
And  yet  to  draw  on  such  as  are  of  best  esteem, 
Nor  younger  than  I  am,  nor  richer,  will  I  seem." 

Our  forefathers  were  wont  to  affirm  that  "  'Tis 
dangerous  marrying  a  widow  because  she  hath  cast 
her  rider,"  which  reminds  us  of  Gay's  fable — 

"  Why  are  those  tears  ?     Why  droops  your  head  ? 
Is,  then,  your  other  husband  dead  ? 
Or  does  a  worse  disgrace  betide — 
Hath  no  one  since  his  death  applied  ?  " 

The  following  folk-doggerel,  which  will  be 
found  in  the  "  Reliquias  Hearnianas  "  (215)  and  is 
called  by  Stowe  "  an  old  proverb,"  gives  an  often- 
times true  and  pathetic  description  of  the  wretched 
condition  of  a  widow — 

"  Women  be  forgetful, 
Children  be  unkind, 
Executors  be  covetous, 
And  take  what  they  find  : 
If  anybody  asks  where 
The  dead's  good  become  ? 
They  answer — 

So  God  me  help  and  holydoom, 
He  died  a  poor  man." 

A  propos  of  this  quaint  rhyme,  we  may  quote  the 
subjoined  extract  from  Weaver's  "  Funeral  Monu- 


Widows 


89 


ments  "  ( 1 63 1 ,  p.  1 9)  :  "As  well  heires  as  executors 
oftentimes  inter  both  the  honour  and  memory  of 
the  defunct  together  with  his  corps,  perfidiously 
forgetting  their  fidelity  to  the  deceased — of  which 
it  will  please  you  read  this  old  inscription  depicted 
upon  a  wall  within  St.  Edmund's  Church,  in 
Lombard  Street,  London  : — 

"  Man  the  behovyth  oft  to  have  yis  in  mind, 
Yat  thow  geveth  wyth  yin  hond,  yat  sail  thou  fynd  ; 
For  widowes  be  sloful,  and  chyldren  beth  unkynd, 
Executors  beth  covetos,  and  kep  al  yat  yey  fynd. 
If  eny  body  ask  wher  the  deddys  goodys  becam  ? 

Yey  ansywer 
So  God  me  help  and  halidam,  he  died  a  poor  man." 

According  to  a  Chinese  proverb,  u  A  maid 
marries  to  please  her  parents  ;  a  widow  to  please 
herself ;  "  and  it  is  said  that — 

"  Mandarins,  customers,  and  widow  folk, 
You  must  be  careful  not  to  provoke." 


There  may  be  some  difference  of  opinion 
respecting  the  following  :  "  Happy  the  wife  who 
dies  before  her  husband  ;  unhappy  she  who  dies 
after  him  "  ;  the  reason  assigned  being  that  <c  A 
widow  is  a  rudderless  boat."  Among  further 
items  of  Eastern  proverbial  wisdom,  it  is  said 
that — 

"  Widow  marriage  must  always  be 
Consummated  immediately  " — 

the  reason  for  this  being  that  otherwise  the  widow 
will    demand  a  higher  price,  or  accept  some  one 


190  Folk-Lore  of  Women 

else's  higher  offer.  It  is  generally  said,  too,  that 
the  widow,  through  being  more  wide  awake  than 
a  bride,  not  infrequently  tries  to  improve  her 
position  when  marrying  a  second  time  ;  and  hence 
this  proverb — 

"  Having  lost  her  first  husband,  again  she's  a  bride  ; 
And  so  she  gets  higher  at  every  stride." 

Making  every  allowance,  however,  for  a  widow's 
position,  we  are  reminded  that,  as  "  A  good  horse 
will  not  turn  back  to  eat  grass,  a  good  wife  will 
not  marry  a  second  husband,"  which  is  much  to 
the  same  purport  as  the  following  :  "  A  loyal 
minister  will  serve  but  one  Prince  ;  a  virtuous 
woman  but  one  husband." 


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CHAPTER  XX 

woman's  curiosity 

"The  over  curious  are  not  over  wise." — Massinger. 

ACCORDING  to  an  old  French  proverb, 
"  Curiosity  is  so  nearly  akin  to  craftiness, 
that  it  can  disfigure  the  most  handsome  faces." 
Both  history  and  social  romance  afford  many  a 
striking  instance  of  the  dangerous  and  fatal  effects 
of  over-inquisitiveness,  for,  according  to  a  Spanish 
proverb,  "  No  woman  sleeps  so  soundly  that  the 
twang  of  the  guitar  will  not  bring  her  to  the 
window." 

Under  a  variety  of  forms  the  well-known  tra- 
dition of  "  Peeping  Tom  "  survives  in  our  midst 
to-day,  who,  at  any  cost,  would  gain  a  glimpse  of 
Lady  Godiva,  as  she  rode  on  her  noble  errand 
through  the  streets  of  Coventry,  and  nursery 
literature  perpetuates  the  gruesome  spectacle  that 
was  revealed  to  the  curious  maiden  who,  despite 
warning,  persisted  in  prying  into  the  forbidden 
chamber  of  Bluebeard. 

191 


192  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

But  stories  of  this  kind  have  their  counterpart 
in  our  family  folk-lore.  Dalton  Hill  Head,  for 
instance,  once  the  property  of  the  family  of 
Hedley,  of  Newcastle,  has  a  strange  story  asso- 
ciated with  it.  Some  years  ago  a  woman  named 
Mary  Henderson — a  connection,  it  is  said,  of 
George  Stephenson,  the  engineer,  had  charge  of 
the  house.  The  gardener  lived  close  by  and  kept 
a  mastiff  called  "Ball."  Mysterious  and  uncanny 
tales  seem  to  have  been  told  of  this  house,  and 
when  Mary  Henderson  asked  the  gardener  to  lend 
her  "  Ball  as  a  protection,  he  specially  warned 
her  not  to  look  into  a  certain  closet  in  the  house. 

"  Curiosity,  however,  prompted  her  to  disregard 
his  warning,  for,  said  she,  *  what  can  there  pos- 
sibly be  that  I  should  not  see  ? '  Hence  to  the 
cupboard  she  went,  when,  on  entering  it,  she  dis- 
covered to  her  horror  a  quantity  of  children's 
bones — some  in  hat-boxes  and  some  wrapped  in 
articles  of  clothing.  She  understood  now  the 
gardener's  advice,  and  wondered  what  the  meaning 
could  be.  With  her  companion  '  Ball '  she 
retired  to  rest,  but  was  soon  aroused  by  strange 
sounds  of  dancing  and  singing  upstairs.  Being  a 
courageous  woman,  she  determined  to  investigate 
the  matter,  but  the  dog  was  terrified  and  unwilling 
to  accompany  her.  She  accordingly  took  him  in 
her  arms  and  went  round  the  house.  As  is  usual 
in  such  cases,  all  was  still  and  undisturbed,  but  an 
attic  window  stood  open."  Further  particulars 
respecting  this  strange  affair  are  wanting,  neither 
are  we  informed  whether  the  music  and  dancing 
were  resumed  on  succeeding  nights. 


Woman  s  Curiosity  193 

Many  a  story,  again,  of  the  tragic  results  of 
woman's  curiosity  has  been  recorded  from  time 
to  time,  more  or  less  resembling  the  romance  of 
George  Lillo,  entitled,  "  Fatal  Curiosity."  We 
are  told  how  young  Wilmot,  supposed  to  have 
perished  at  sea,  returns  to  this  country,  and  in 
disguise  pays  a  visit  to  his  parents,  with  whom  he 
deposits  a  casket. 

But  his  mother,  out  of  curiosity,  opens  the 
casket,  and  finding  that  it  contains  articles  of  great 
value,  she  agrees  with  her  husband  to  murder  its 
owner.  Scarcely  had  they  committed  the  fatal 
deed,  when  they  discovered  that  it  was  their  own 
son  whom  they  had  killed. 

It  would  seem,  too,  that  woman's  curiosity  has 
been  equally  distasteful  to  all  beings  of  super- 
natural order,  and  it  may  be  remembered  how  the 
fairies  of  our  old  ballads  have  frequently  with- 
drawn their  favours  on  this  account  from  mortals. 
In  a  variety  of  cases,  for  instance,  the  treasures  of 
some  enchanted  castle  suddenly  disappear,  owing 
to  the  recipient's  curiosity  leading  her  to  open  a 
prohibited  door.  Such  an  act  of  disobedience  is 
never  allowed  to  pass  with  impunity,  in  most 
cases  causing  the  inquisitive  woman  more  or  less 
personal  injury.  Oftentimes,  also,  in  folk-tales 
and  romance,  curiosity  is  repaid  by  some  unwel- 
come surprise,  as  in  Grimm's  tale  of  Fitcher's 
Bird,  where  the  unhappy  heroine  finds,  in  a  room 
which  she  was  specially  warned  not  to  approach, 
the  bodies  of  her  sisters  hacked  in  pieces. 

Thus  among  the  fairy  tales  in  which  woman's 
curiosity  holds  a  prominent  place,  we  are  told  how 

14 


194  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

a  young  Welsh  girl  went  one  day  to  a  hiring  fair, 
where  she  was  addressed  by  a  gentleman  dressed 
in  black,  who  asked  her  if  she  would  undertake 
the  management  of  his  children. 

4 'Yes,  she  would  gladly  do  so,"  was  her  reply. 

Her  new  master  made  one  condition,  which  was 
that  she  should  be  blindfolded  before  starting  on 
their  way  to  his  home. 

She  consented,  and  on  reaching  their  destina- 
tion the  handkerchief  was  removed  from  her  eyes, 
when  she  found  herself  in  a  beautiful  mansion, 
in  the  presence  of  a  number  of  little  children. 
These  were  put  under  her  charge,  her  master  at 
the  same  time  presenting  her  with  a  box  of  oint- 
ment, which  she  was  to  put  on  their  eyes,  giving 
her  strict  injunctions  always  to  wash  her  hands 
immediately  after  using  it,  and  to  be  particularly 
careful  never  to  let  a  bit  of  it  touch  her  own  eyes. 

She  obeyed  his  rules,  and  for  a  time  was  very 
happy  in  her  new  home,  until  one  morning, 
when  putting  the  ointment  on  the  children's  eyes, 
curiosity  induced  her  to  touch  one  corner  of  her 
own  with  it.  But  no  sooner  had  she  done  so  than 
the  children  appeared  to  her  like  so  many  little 
imps.  Getting  frightened,  and  anxious  to  leave 
what  she  felt  was  an  uncanny  place,  she  took  the 
first  opportunity  of  asking  leave  to  go  and  see 
her  friends,  a  request  which  was  readily  granted 
her.  Accordingly,  a  handkerchief  was  put  over 
her  eyes,  and  she  was  escorted  some  distance 
towards  the  neighbourhood  of  her  own  home, 
where  on  her  arrival  she  took  care  to  remain. 

Strange  to  say,  many  years  afterwards,  when 


Woman  s  Curiosity  195 

visiting  the  fair,  she  saw  a  man  steal  something 
from  a  stall,  and  with  one  corner  of  her  eye  she 
recognised  her  old  master. 

Unthinkingly  she  said,  "  How  are  you,  Master  ? 
How  are  the  children  ? " 

He  replied,  "  How  did  you  see  me  ? " 

u  With  the  corner  of  my  eye,"  she  replied. 
But  from  that  moment  she  paid  the  long-deferred 
penalty  for  her  curiosity,  and  became  blind  in  her 
left  eye,  the  sight  of  which  she  never  recovered. 

It  has  long  been  a  common  belief  that  it  is 
highly  dangerous  for  a  young  lady  to  display 
curiosity  in  all  matters  of  ghostly  import,  and 
many  a  German  household  tale  gives  the  most 
thrilling  details  of  disobedience  in  this  respect. 

Stories,  too,  are  told  of  young  girls  forecasting  the 
future  on  the  eve  of  their  wedding  day,  and,  through 
over  curiosity,  of  their  having  a  very  different 
response  to  their  inquiries  from  what  they  ex- 
pected. Thus  a  certain  damsel  was  warned  against 
peeping  into  the  looking-glass  after  she  had  per- 
formed various  divinatory  rites,  but  her  curiosity 
led  her  to  do  so,  whereupon  she  was  horrified  at 
seeing  the  figure  of  Death  frowning  at  her. 

In  many  an  old  family  residence  there  is  the 
mysteriously  haunted  room,  "  of  which  the 
atmosphere  is  supernaturally  fatal  to  body  and 
mind."  Hence,  should  curiosity  foolishly  induce 
any  one  to  enter  a  room  of  this  description,  the 
effects  are  generally  said  to  be  more  or  less  serious. 
Some  few  years  ago  the  case  was  reported  of  a 
young  lady  whose  curiosity  caused  her,  despite  all 
advice,  to  go  into  such  a  haunted  room,  but,  adds 


196  Folk-Lore  of  Women 

the  account,  "  she  saw,  heard,  and  felt  horror  so 
intense  that  she  went  mad,  and  never  recovered 
sanity  enough  to  tell  how  or  why." 

And,  whilst  speaking  of  woman's  curiosity, 
there  is  the  well-known  story  of  the  Lady  Free- 
mason, who,  in  a  perhaps  unique  way,  paid  the 
penalty  for  her  inquisitiveness.  The  lady  in 
question  was  the  Honourable  Elizabeth  St.  Leger, 
and  her  father  Lord  Doneraile — a  very  zealous 
Mason — held  a  warrant  and  occasionally  opened  a 
lodge  at  Doneraile  House.  On  one  occasion  it 
appears  that  previous  to  the  initiation  of  a  candi- 
date to  the  first  steps  of  Masonry,  Miss  St.  Leger 
— either  by  accident  or  design — happened  to  be 
in  an  apartment  adjoining  the  one  used  as  a  lodge 
room.  Hearing  the  voices  of  the  Freemasons, 
she  thought  it  a  good  opportunity  to  see  this 
mystery,  and  making  a  hole  in  the  wall — which 
at  this  time  was  undergoing  some  alterations — 
with  her  scissors  she  succeeded  in  gaining  a  view 
unobserved  of  the  first  two  steps  of  the  mystic 
ceremony. 

But,  unfortunately  for  her  curiosity,  it  had 
never  occurred  to  her  that  there  was  no  mode  of 
egress  except  through  the  room  where  the  Free- 
masons were  assembled  engaged  in  carrying  out 
the  concluding  part  of  the  second  stage,  and,  as 
she  stealthily  opened  the  door,  "  there  stood  before 
her,  to  her  dismay,  a  grim  and  surly  tiler  with  his 
long  sword  unsheathed.  Go  forward  she  could 
not,  and,  panic-struck,  her  shriek  alarmed  the 
members  of  the  lodge,  who,  finding  that  she  had 
witnessed  their  proceedings,"  resolved,  it  is  said,  at 


Woman  s  Curiosity  197 

once  "  to  put  the  fair  spectatress  to  death  ;  but 
her  life  was  spared  on  condition  of  her  going 
through  the  remaining  steps  of  the  mystic  cere- 
mony she  had  unlawfully  witnessed." 

This  young  lady  afterwards  married  Richard 
Aldworth,  of  Newmarket,  and  whenever  a  benefit 
was  given  at  the  theatres  in  Dublin  or  Cork,  in 
aid  of  the  Masonic  Female  Orphan  Asylum,  she 
walked  at  the  head  of  the  Freemasons  with  her 
apron  and  other  insignia  of  Freemasonary,  and  sat 
in  the  front  row  of  the  stage-box.  According  to 
another  version  of  this  romantic  story,  Miss  St. 
Leger  concealed  herself  in  an  empty  clock  case, 
where  she  remained  in  her  secret  hiding-place  for 
a  considerable  time,  until,  on  being  discovered 
secreted,  she  was  compelled  to  become  a  member 
of  the  craft. 

Another  equally  strange  traditionary  account  of 
woman's  curiosity — the  punishment  for  which  is 
a  striking  illustration  of  the  arbitrary  state  of 
affairs  in  Scotland  in  former  days — was  that  of 
the  wife  of  a  lord  of  the  Sessions,  Lord  Grange. 
It  was  suspected  that  the  lady  had  by  some 
manner  or  other  contrived  to  learn  the  contents 
of  some  state  papers  of  great  consequence,  and 
for  fear  she  should  divulge  anything  she  had 
learnt  therein,  she  was  privately  conveyed  to  the 
island  of  St.  Kilda  by  her  husband  and  son, 
where,  on  her  arrival,  she  was  to  be  left  to  shift 
for  herself,  the  two  sailing  back  again  without 
any  one  having  the  slightest  knowledge  of  what 
had  transpired. 

The  disappearance  of  Lady  Grange    soon    be- 


198  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

came  a  matter  of  comment,  and  although  every 
effort  was  made  to  ascertain  the  place  of  conceal- 
ment, it  was  to  no  purpose.  Years  passed  without 
anything  being  heard  of  her,  until  accidentally 
after  her  death,  which  took  place  at  the  end  or 
thirty  years,  her  melancholy  and  romantic  fate 
was  ascertained.  Her  isolated  island  home 
afforded  no  implements  for  writing,  but  anxious 
to  let  posterity  have  some  facts  of  her  sad  and 
eventful  life,  she  worked  it  on  her  muslin  apron 
with  her  hair. 

Further  stories  are  to  be  found  in  family  history 
and  romance  of  the  hardships  and  perils  to  which 
curiosity  has  subjected  the  indiscreet  of  the  fair 
sex,  this  propensity  having  oftentimes  subjected 
them  to  the  most  unenviable  experiences.  Truly, 
as  it  has  been  observed,  "  the  over  curious  are  not 
over  wise,"  and  to  woman's  curiosity  may  be 
added  these  warning  words  : — 

"  Search  not  to  find  what  lies  too  deeply  hid  ; 
Nor  to  know  things  whose  knowledge  is  forbid." 


CHAPTER   XXI 

SISTER    LEGENDS 

"  Nine  maidens  fair  in  life  were  they, 
Nine  maidens  fair  in  death's  last  fray, 
Nine  maidens  fair  in  fame  alway, 
The  maidens  of  Glen  of  Ogilvy." 

Scotch  Ballad. 

MANY  interesting  stories  founded  on  the 
heroism  and  self-denying  love  of  sisters 
are  current  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  and 
form  an  interesting  chapter  in  the  folk-lore  of  the 
fair  sex. 

A  pretty  tradition  told  of  the  building  of 
Linton  Church,  of  which  there  are  one  or  two 
versions,  has  already  been  given  in  a  previous 
chapter,1  being  only  one  of  the  numerous  historic 
romances  which  in  simple  language  tell  of  the 
beautiful  sacrifice  that  in  extreme  emergency  a 
sister's  love  has  been  ready,  at  one  time  or 
another,  to  make,  and,  as  in  this  case,  to  save 
the  brother's  life. 

These  traditionary  stories,  too,  are  not  confined 

1   See  page  83,  and  "Church-Lore  Gleanings." 
199 


200  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

to  any  one  country,  but  are  found  on  the  Con- 
tinent among  the  legendary  romances  associated 
with  many  of  the  sacred  buildings  ;  and,  as  it  has 
been  remarked,  they  form  some  of  the  most 
pleasing  illustrations  of  woman's  worth. 

In  a  variety  of  ways  such  acts  of  devotion  are 
said  to  have  been  displayed,  their  memory  still  sur- 
viving in  the  local  legend.  The  Glen  of  Ogilvy, 
a  romantic  spot  in  the  Vale  of  Strathmore,  is  the 
scene  of  the  legend  of  the  "  Nine  Maidens."  It 
appears  that  far  back  in  past  years  this  glen  was 
the  chosen  residence  of  St.  Donivald  and  his  nine 
daughters.  They  lived  in  the  glen  "  as  in  a  her- 
mitage, labouring  the  ground  with  their  own 
hands,  and  eating  but  once  a  day,  and  then  but 
barley  water  and  bread." 

On  the  death  of  St.  Donivald,  after  a  long  life 
of  incessant  toil,  the  sisters  removed  to  Abernethy, 
and  dying  there  they  were  buried  at  the  foot  of  a 
large  oak,  much  frequented  by  pilgrims  up  to  the 
time  of  the  Reformation.  They  were  canonised 
as  the  "  Nine  Maidens,"  and  many  churches  were 
dedicated  to  them  throughout  Scotland.  One  of 
these  churches  was  that  of  Strathmartine,  near 
Dundee,  with  which  is  connected  the  well-known 
tradition  of  the  "  Nine  Maidens  of  Pitempan  " 
being  devoured  by  a  serpent  at  the  Nine  Maiden 
Well  in  that  parish.  This  legendary  story  has 
been  commemorated  in  a  ballad  which  tells  how — 

"  Nine  maidens  were  they  spotless  fair, 
With  silver  skins,  bright  golden  hair, 
Blue-eyed,  vermilion-cheeked,  nowhere 
Their  match  in  Glen  of  Ogilvy." 


Sister  Legends 


201 


After  describing  their  many  virtues  and  life  of 
self-denial,  the  ballad  relates  how  at  their  death 
there  came  to  their  grave  from  every  land  many 
a  sorrowing  pilgrim,  for — 

"  Nine  maidens  fair  in  life  were  they, 
Nine  maidens  fair  in  death's  last  fray, 
Nine  maidens  fair  in  fame  alway, 
The  maids  of  Glen  of  Ogilvy." 

Another  romantic  folk-tale  tells  how  four  young 
orphan  sisters  agreed  to  fill  the  five  lancets  in  the 
north  transept  of  York  Cathedral  with  memorial 
glass,  in  patterns  taken  from  their  embroidery 
frames,  which  they  had  long  laid  aside  for 
sorrow,  in  remembrance  of  a  dead  sister.  The 
story  further  adds  that  they  are  reported  to  have 
knelt  and  prayed  until,  one  by  one,  they  passed 
away,  and  were  laid  to  rest  in  a  common  grave. 
Hence  these  lancets  have  been  popularly  desig- 
nated the  "  Five  Sisters." 

But  sometimes  these  sister  legends  commemo- 
rated tragic  scenes  in  past  years.  At  Ballybunnion, 
for  instance,  situated  within  a  few  miles  from 
Kerry  Head,  is  a  cavern  which  is  known  by 
the  Irish  peasantry  as  the  "  Cave  of  the  Seven 
Sisters."  The  scenery  around  is  of  the  most 
romantic  and  wildest  description,  and  on  the 
brink  of  one  of  the  precipices  formed  by  the 
rugged  cliffs  are  the  remains  of  an  old  castle, 
said  once  upon  a  time  to  have  been  inhabited 
by  a  gallant  chieftain,  the  father  of  seven 
beautiful  daughters. 

But   the  story  goes  that  in    an  unlucky  hour 


202  Folk-Lore  of  Women 

a  fatal  attachment  sprang  up  between  these  seven 
fair  maidens  and  the  captain  and  his  six  brothers 
belonging  to  a  private  ship.  The  father's  anger 
at  his  daughters  falling  in  love  with  men  whom 
he  considered  enemies  to  his  country  was  un- 
bounded, and  admitted  of  no  mercy.  All 
entreaties  to  preserve  their  lives  were  ineffectual, 
and,  at  the  chieftain's  command,  the  men  were 
brought  one  by  one  to  the  edge  of  the  precipice, 
and  were  hurled  into  the  foaming  flood  beneath. 
What  the  fate  of  their  unhappy  sweethearts  was 
the  legend  does  not  say. 

According  to  another  version  of  the  same 
tradition  one  of  the  Northern  sea-king's  invaded 
Ballybunnion,  and  invested  the  chieftain,  Bunnion, 
in  his  castle.  The  garrison  was  slain,  and  the 
chieftain,  rather  than  that  his  nine  daughters 
should  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  victorious  king, 
flung  them,  one  after  another,  into  the  abyss. 
From  this  occurrence  the  cave  has  been  popularly 
nicknamed  "  the  Cave  of  the  Nine." 

Scattered  here  and  there  in  different  parts  or 
the  country  we  find  certain  curiously  shaped 
stones  named  after  sisters,  in  connection  with 
which  all  kinds  of  legendary  stories  are  associated. 
Thus  in  the  parish  of  Gwendron,  Cornwall,  are 
nine  "  Moor  Stones" — perpendicular  blocks  of 
granite,  which  have  evidently  been  placed  in  their 
present  position  with  much  labour.  According 
to  local  tradition  they  indicate  the  graves  of  nine 
sisters,  whereas  some  say  these  stones  are  the 
metamorphosed  remains  of  maidens  who  in  all 
probability    were    changed    into    stone    for    some 


Sister  Legends 


wicked  profanation  of  the  Sabbath  day.  As 
Mr.  Hunt  points  out  in  his  "  Romances  of 
the  West  of  England  "  such  monuments  of  im- 
piety are  to  be  met  with  in  different  parts  of  the 
country. 

The  undulation  in  the  chalk  cliffs  between 
Seaford  and  Beachy  Head  are  popularly  known 
as  the  "Seven  Sisters/'  a  number  which,  it  may 
be  noted,  occurs  frequently  in  the  boundary  lists 
of  Saxon  charters  as  "  Seven  oaks,"  "  Seven 
thorns." 

Sometimes,  it  would  seem,  wrong  acts  were 
punished  in  a  less  material  way  than  by  their 
agents  being  turned  into  stone.  Denton  Hall, 
for  instance,  has  long  been  reported  to  be  tenanted 
by  a  spirit  commonly  called  "  Silky,"  whose  history 
is  not  without  a  romantic  past.  There  is  some 
obscure  and  dark  rumour  of  secrets  strangely 
obtained  and  cruelly  betrayed  by  a  rival  sister, 
ending  in  deprivation  of  reason  and  death.  As 
a  penalty  for  her  sin,  the  betrayer  haunts  the  scene 
of  her  crime. 

Happily,  however,  if  we  are  to  believe  legendary 
lore,  the  rivalry  of  sisters  has  occasionally  resulted 
in  good  works.  Thus  the  two  churches  of  All- 
righton  and  Donington,  in  Shropshire,  which 
stand  curiously  near  together,  are  of  different 
styles  and  dates  ;  but  tradition  says  they  were 
built  by  two  sisters  in  a  spirit  of  rivalry,  and  that 
this  is  the  reason  why  Donington  parish  church 
is  so  far  from  any  village,  and  so  much  in  one 
corner  of  the  parish. 

A    similar    story    is    told    of    Cowthorne    and 


204  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

Withernsea  churches,  Yorkshire,  which  are  popu- 
larly nicknamed  in  the  neighbourhood  the  "  Sister 
Churches."  It  is  said  that  they  were  built  by 
two  sisters,  who  at  first  agreed  that  a  single 
church  would  be  sufficient  for  the  adjoining 
manors,  but  they  quarrelled  as  to  the  respective 
merits  of  a  tower  or  spire,  and  finally  each  sister 
built  her  own  church. 

To  quote  a  further  case  a  local  tradition  repre- 
sents Ormskirk  Church,  Yorkshire,  as  having 
been  erected  at  the  cost  of  two  maiden  sisters 
named  Orm,  but  being  unable  to  decide  as  to 
whether  the  church  should  have  a  tower,  or  a 
spire,  they  accommodated  their  differences  by 
giving  it  both.  Roby  discredits  the  story, 
remarking  that  the  old  ladies  might  each  "  have 
had  her  way  by  building  a  tower  and  sur- 
mounting it  by  a  spire." 

Among  the  numerous  other  stories  of  a 
legendary  character  connected  with  sisters  may 
be  mentioned  that  known  as  the  "  Two  Sisters 
of  Beverley."  According  to  Poulson,  the  his- 
torian of  Beverley,  there  is  in  the  south  isle 
of  the  Minster  an  altar-tomb  placed  under  a 
pinnacled  canopy,  but  without  any  inscription 
to  lead  to  a  knowledge  of  the  occupant,  or 
occupants.  Tradition,  however,  assigns  it  to 
the  unmarried  daughters  of  Earl  Puch,  who 
are  said  to  have  given  two  of  the  common 
pastures  to  the  free  men  of  Beverley.  In  Ingle- 
dew's  "  Ballads  of  Yorkshire"  there  is  a  legendary 
ballad  relating  to  the  mysterious  appearance  and 
disappearance  of  these  ladies  at  the  convent.     It 


Sister  Legends  205 


concludes  by  referring  to  their  burial  and  relates 
how — 

"  Side  by  side  in  the  chapel  fair, 
Are  the  sainted  maidens  laid, 
With  their  snowy  brow,  and  glossy  hair, 

They  look  not  like  the  dead  ! 
Fifty  summers  have  come  and  passed  away, 
But  their  loveliness  knoweth  no  decay." 

Legends  of  the  same  kind  are  found  on  the  Con- 
tinent. Near  Louvain  there  are  three  graves  in 
which  rest  the  remains  of  three  pious  sisters. 
Before  their  graves  three  clear  springs  are  said 
to  burst  forth,  which  possess  marvellous  medi- 
cinal properties.  In  order  to  know  whether  a 
woman  will  live  or  die  of  her  malady,  it  is  cus- 
tomary to  take  a  hood  belonging  to  her  and  to 
lay  it  on  the  water.  If  it  sinks  no  recovery 
is  to  be  looked  for  ;  if,  on  the  other  hand,  it 
swims,  the  disease  is  curable.  Many  such  stories 
are  current,  and  the  folk-tales,  it  may  be  added, 
of  most  countries  are  prolific  in  a  host  of 
incidents  in  which  the  acts  of  sisters  are  the 
principal  feature. 


CHAPTER   XXII 

BRIDES    AND    THEIR     MAIDS 

"  The  bloom  or  blight  of  all  men's  happiness." 

Byron's  Bride  of  Abydos. 

A   CCORDING  to  the  time-honoured  adage — 

"  My  son  is  my  son  till  he  gets  him  a  wife, 
But  my  daughter's  my  daughter  all  the  days  of  her 
life." 


This  may  be  so,  but  with  few  exceptions,  the  bride 
thinks  differently  ;  for,  however  great  a  gap  her 
absence  may  make  in  the  old  home,  her  feelings 
are  those  expressed  in  the  charming  ballad  of 
bygone  days,  which  generally  found  its  way  into 
most  old  books  sold  at  village  fairs,  and  which 
portrays  the  folk-lore  of  the  subject,  as  told  by 
the  simple,  bright-hearted  maiden — 


"As  I  walked  forth  one  May  morning, 
I  heard  a  fair  maid  sweetly  sing, 
As  she  sat  under  a  cow  milking, 

We  will  be  married  o'  Sunday. 

2Qt 


Brides  and  their  Maids  207 

T  said,  pretty  maiden,  sing  not  so, 
For  you  must  tarry  seven  years  or  mo', 
And  then  to  church  you  may  chance  to  go 
All  to  be  married  o'  Sunday. 

Kind  sir,  quoth  she,  you  have  no  skill  ; 
I've  tarried  two  years  against  my  will, 
And  I've  made  a  promise,  will  I,  or  nill, 
That  I'll  be  married  o'  Sunday. 

Next  Saturday  night  'twill  be  my  care 
To  trim  and  curl  my  maiden  hair, 
And  all  the  people  shall  say,  Look  here  ! 

When  I  come  to  be  married  o'  Sunday. 

Then  to  the  church  I  shall  be  led 
By  sister  Nan  and  brother  Ned, 
With  a  garland  of  flowers  upon  my  head, 
For  I'm  to  be  married  o'  Sunday. 

And  in  the  church  I  must  kneel  down 
Before  the  parson  of  our  good  town, 
But  I  will  not  spoil  my  kirtle  and  gown 
When  I'm  married  o'  Sunday." 

There  are  plenty  of  old  ballads  of  this  kind, 
many  of  which  have  been  preserved  in  chap- 
books,  and  these  are  interesting  in  so  far  as  they 
depict  the  sentiments  of  the  past.  But  an  Eastern 
piece  of  proverbial  wisdom  represents  what  must 
be  regarded  as  an  almost  universal  truism — 

"  The  bride  that  is  linked  to  a  worthless  groom 
Is  like  a  man  buried  in  a  worthless  tomb  " — 

her  whole  future  happiness  being  dependent  on 
her  good   or  bad  choice.     Hence  it  is  not  sur- 


208  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

prising  that,  in  most  ages  of  the  world's  history, 
the  position  of  a  bride  has  been  regarded  as  the 
most  critical  in  her  life  ;  and,  on  this  account,  it 
has  been  associated  with  a  host  of  proverbial 
sayings  and  superstitious  beliefs,  numerous  sur- 
vivals of  which  remain  in  our  midst  to-day. 

Occasionally,  for  instance,  one  may  hear  the 
expression,  "  She  brides  it  " — that  is,  "  She  holds 
up  her  head  haughtily,"  in  reference  to  a  proud 
woman — the  allusion,  of  course,  being  to  the  dis- 
dainful bride  who,  on  her  marriage-day  bore 
herself  in  a  pompous  manner,  fully  conscious  of 
her  own  charms.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  the 
well-known  saying,  "  She  simpers  like  a  bride  on 
her  wedding  day,"  in  allusion  to  the  brides  of  old 
times  who  were  bound,  in  courtesy,  to  smile  on  all 
who  approached  them. 

When  a  bride  happens  to  be  unpopular,  she  is 
sent  off  with  the  following  far  from  complimen- 
tary farewell — 

"Joy  go  with  her  and  a  bottle  ot  moss, 
If  she  never  comes  back  she'll  be  no  great  loss," 

the  term,  "  bottle  of  moss,"  being  applied  to  a 
thing  of    no  value. 

Whereas,  nowadays,  it  is  customary  for  a  young 
lady  to  speak  of  going  to  church  "  on  her  wedding 
day,"  formerlv  she  spoke  of  "  visiting  the  church 
porch  "  a  practice  which  explains  the  meaning  of 
the  old  Irish  proverbial  saying,  "  Ye're  early  with 
your  orders,  as  the  bride  said  at  the  church 
porch."     The  popular  adage,   too,  "  Blest  is  the 


Brides  and  their  Maids  209 

bride  that  the  sun  shines  on,"  had  once  a  prac- 
tical application,  when  marriages  were  celebrated 
in  the  church  porch.  A  wet  day  on  such  an 
occasion  was  a  serious  matter,  as  our  forefathers 
had  none  of  the  useful  contrivances  of  modern 
times  for  preservation  from  rain. 

Another  proverbial  phrase  once  in  use  was  to 
this  effect  :  "  You  make  a  muck  hill  on  my 
trencher,  quoth  the  bride  " — that  is,  "  you  carve 
me  a  great  heap."  According  to  Hazlitt,  this 
saying  probably  originated  "  in  some  bride  at  first, 
thinking  to  speak  elegantly  and  finely,  using  this 
expression,  and  so  it  was  taken  up  in  drollery,  or 
else  it  was  only  a  droll,  made  to  abuse  country 
bride  affecting  fine  language." 

It  is  still  often  said  that  "  many  dressers  put  the 
bride's  dress  out  of  order,"  her  friends  being  over 
anxious  to  give  it  the  finishing  touch.  Likewise, 
the  bride  herself  when  once  her  toilet  is  complete, 
must,  according  to  a  piece  of  folk-  lore  current  in 
the  Southern  Counties,  refrain  from  taking  a  last 
look  in  the  glass,  the  idea  being  that  the  young 
lady  who  is  too  fond  of  the  looking-glass  will  be 
unlucky  when  married  ;  and  in  removing  her  robe 
and  chaplet  she  must  take  care  to  throw  away  every 
pin  worn  on  the  eventful  day,  as  evil  fortune  will 
inevitably  overtake  the  bride  who  keeps  even  one 
pin  used  in  the  marriage  toilet.  Hence  it  is  the 
duty  of  the  bridesmaids  to  use  every  precaution 
that  no  pin  is  even  accidently  left  in  any  part  of 
her  dress.  Woe,  also,  to  the  bridesmaids  if  they 
retain  any  one  of  them,  as  their  chances  of 
marriage  will  thereby  be  materially  diminished. 

15 


210  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

On  the  other  hand,  according  to  a  Sussex 
piece  of  folk-lore,  a  bride,  on  her  return 
home  from  church,  is  often  at  once  robbed 
of  all  the  pins  about  her  dress  by  her  single 
friends  around  her,  from  the  belief  that  who- 
ever possesses  one  of  them  will  be  married  in 
the  course  of  a  year.  Similarly,  the  Germans  have 
a  custom  of  throwing  the  bride's  shoe  among  the 
guests  at  a  wedding,  the  person  who  succeeds  in 
getting  it  being  considered  to  have  every  pros- 
pect of  a  speedy  marriage  ;  and,  among  the  many 
other  customs  associated  with  the  bride's  shoe,  may 
be  mentioned  the  German  practice  for  the  mother 
of  the  bride  to  strew  salt  and  dill  in  her  shoes 
prior  to  her  going  to  the  church,  repeating  at  the 
same  time  this  charm — 


"  Dill,  cease  not  from  Will, 
Salt  relax  not." 


It  is  also  customary  for  both  bride  and  bridegroom 
to  strew  dill  and  salt  in  their  shoes  as  a  charm 
against  every  kind  of  malignant  influence. 

In  the  Northern  Counties,  a  bride  is  expressly 
warned,  "  be  sure  when  you  go  to  get  married  that 
you  don't  go  in  at  one  door  and  out  at  another, 
or  you  will  be  always  unlucky."  An  instance  of  a 
similar  piece  of  folk-lore  is  recorded  by  the  late 
Cuthbert  Bede  in  Notes  and  Queries  as  having 
occurred  at  a  wedding  that  took  place  in  a  Wor- 
cestershire village  in  October,  1877.  He  thus 
writes  :  "  The  bride  and  bridegroom  at  the  con- 
clusion   of  the   ceremony   left   the  church  by  the 


.   Brides  and  their  Maids  2 1 1 

chancel  door,  instead  of  following  the  usual  custom 
of  walking  down  the  church  and  through  the  nave 
door.  One  of  the  oldest  inhabitants,  in  mention- 
ing this  to  me,  said  that  '  it  betokened  bad  luck,' 
and  that  she  had  never  known  a  like  instance  but 
once  in  her  life,  when  the  married  couple  went  out 
of  the  church  through  the  chancel  door,  and  the 
bride  was  a  widow  before  the  twelve  months  were 
out." 

There  is,  too,  a  widespread  notion  that  when 
the  bride  retires  to  bed  on  her  wedding  night,  her 
bridesmaids  should  lay  her  stockings  across  the 
bed,  as  this  act  is  supposed  to  guarantee  her 
future  posterity  in  the  marriage  state.  It  has  also 
long  been  a  popular  superstition  that  the  bride 
should  weep  on  her  wedding  day — if  it  be  only  a 
few  tears — the  omission  of  such  an  act  being 
considered  ominous  of  all  future  happiness. 

Turning  to  the  bridesmaids,  it  appears  that  as 
far  back  as  the  days  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  they 
attended  the  bride  at  the  wedding  ceremony, 
although  in  later  times  they  seem  to  have  escorted 
the  bridegroom,  his  friends  waiting  on  the  bride. 
As  recently,  for  instance,  as  the  last  century,  this 
was  the  popular  mode  of  procedure,  an  illustration 
of  which  is  given  in  the  "  Collier's  Wedding  "  : — 

"Two  lusty  lads,  well  dressed  and  strong, 
Stept  out  to  lead  the  bridegroom  along  ; 
And  two  young  maids  or  equal  size, 
As  soon  the  bridegroom's  hands  surprise." 

Spenser,  in  his  charming  picture  of  an  Elizabethan 
bridal — "  The  Wedding  of  the  Medway  and  the 


2  1 2  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

Thames  " — gives  the  bride  for  her  attendants,  two 
bridesmaids,  and  two  bride-pages  : — 

"  On  her  two  pretty  bridesmaids  did  attend, 
Which  on  her  waited,  things  amiss  to  mend, 
And  her  before  there  paced  pages  twain, 
Both  clad  in  colours  like,  and  like  away." 

Instead  of  being  so  many  graceful  ornaments  at 
the  marriage  ceremony,  as  nowadays,  the  brides- 
maids in  days  of  old  had  various  duties  assigned  to 
them — one  of  their  principal  tasks  having  been  to 
dress  the  bride,  when  any  omission  in  her  toilet 
was  laid  to  their  charge.  It  was  the  first  brides- 
maid's duty,  too,  to  see  that  each  of  the  brides- 
maids was  not  only  provided  with  a  sprig  of 
rosemary,  or  a  floral  posy,  but  had  a  symbolical 
chaplet  in  her  hand. 

A  survival  of  this  practice  may  still  be  seen  in 
Germany,  where  it  is  customary  for  the  brides- 
maids to  carry  the  myrtle  wreath — which  they 
have  subscribed  together  to  purchase  on  the 
nuptial-eve — to  the  house  of  the  bride,  and  to 
remove  it  from  her  head  at  the  close  of  the 
wedding  day.  After  this  has  been  done,  the  bride 
is  blindfolded,  and,  the  myrtle  wreath  having  been 
put  into  her  hand,  she  tries  to  place  it  on  the  head 
of  one  of  her  bridesmaids,  as  they  dance  round 
her,  for,  in  accordance  with  an  old  belief,  who- 
ever she  crowns  is  sure  to  be  married  within  a 
year  from  that  date. 

Again,  much  importance  was  formerly  attached 
to  the  colours  which  the  bride  wore  on  her  wedding 
day.     In  an  old  book,  entitled  "The  Fifteen  Com- 


Brides  and  their  Maids  213 

forts  of  Marriage,"  a  bride  and  her  bridesmaids 
are  represented  conversing  together,  respecting  the 
colours  to  be  used  for  the  decoration  of  the  bridal 
dress.  It  was  finally  decided,  after  various  colours 
had  been  rejected,  "  to  mingle  a  gold  tissue  with 
grass-green,' '  this  combination  being  considered 
symbolical  of  youth  and  jollity. 

In  Scotland  the  bridesmaid  is  popularly  known 
as  the  "  best  maid,"  and,  in  past  years,  one  of  her 
principal  duties  was  to  carry  the  bride's  presents 
on  the  wedding  day  to  her  future  home.  The 
first  article  generally  taken  into  the  house  was  a 
vessel  of  salt,  a  portion  of  which  was  sprinkled 
over  the  floor  as  a  protection  against  the  malignant 
influence  of  the  "  Evil  Eye."  And  Mr.  W.  Gregor, 
describing  an  old  Scotch  wedding,  tells  us,  the 
bridesmaids'  position  was  not  unattended  with 
certain  risks  :  "  After  the  church  had  been  opened, 
the  beadle  or  bellman  was  in  attendance  to  lead 
the  bridegroom  to  the  bride-steel — that  is,  the 
pew  that  was  set  apart  for  the  use  of  those  who 
were  to  be  married.  The  bride  was  now  led 
forth  and  placed  beside  him,  and  great  care  was 
used  to  have  her  placed  at  the  proper  side.  To 
have  placed  her  improperly  would  have  been 
unlucky  in  the  extreme.  Next  to  the  bride  stood 
her  '  best  maid,'  this  office,  though  accounted  an 
honour,  not  being  unattended  with  risk.  Three 
times  a  bridesmaid  was  the  inevitable  prelude  of 
remaining  unmarried." 

Lastly,  it  was  one  of  the  duties  of  the  brides- 
maid to  remind  the  bride  of  guarding  against 
certain  omens,  which  were  supposed  to  be  attended 


214  Folk-Lore  of  Women 

with  fatal  results.  In  making  a  wedding  trip,  for 
instance,  she  was  enjoined  "  to  be  sure  and  always 
go  up  against  the  stream,  as  it  was  most  uncanny 
to  go  down  the  waters/' 

One  of  the  most  interesting  antiquities  ot 
Jarrow  Church,  Northumberland,  is  the  chair 
of  the  Venerable  Bede,  kept  in  the  vestry,  whither 
brides,  conducted  by  their  bridesmaids,  at  once 
repair,  after  the  marriage  service,  to  seat  them- 
selves upon  it.  According  to  the  general  belief, 
this  act  will,  in  due  time,  make  them  the  joyous 
mothers  of  children,  and  no  wedding  ceremony  is 
considered  complete  until  the  bride  has  been  duly 
enthroned. 

Similarly,  in  days  gone  by,  on  the  lower  de- 
clivity of  Warton  Crag,  in  the  parish  of  Warton, 
Lancashire,  a  seat,  locally  known  as  the  "  Bride's 
Chair,"  was  commonly  resorted  to  on  their 
wedding  day  by  the  brides  of  the  village,  where 
they  were  solemnly  enthroned. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  in  past  years  every 
precaution  was  taken  to  prevent  a  bride  sitting 
down  on  the  left  seat  at  the  gateway  of  the 
entrance  to  Great  Yarmouth  Parish  Church — 
popularly  designated  the  "  Devil's  Seat,"  as  such 
an  act,  it  was  said,  would  in  days  to  follow  render 
her  specially  liable  to  misfortune. 

According  to  another  popular  item  of  folk-lore, 
"  if  a  horse  stood  and  looked  through  a  gateway, 
or  along  a  road,  where  a  bride  or  bridegroom 
dwelt,  it  was  considered  to  be  a  bad  omen  for  that 
future  couple  ; "  and  one  most  important  parting 
warning   to   the   bride  was   that   she  should  re- 


Brides  and  their  Maids 


215 


member,    "  whoever    goes    to    sleep   first    on    the 
wedding  night  will  be  the  first  to  die/' 

Although,  therefore,  at  the  present  day,  the 
bride's  lady  attendants  are  so  many  pretty  and 
attractive  appendages  of  the  nuptial  ceremony — 
symbols,  oftentimes  of  youth  and  beauty — they 
were  not  only  formerly  far  less  elaborately  dressed, 
but,  as  seen  in  the  previous  pages,  they  had  duties 
to  perform  of  a  responsible  nature,  the  omission 
of  which  was  thought  to  presage  unhappiness  to 
the  bride. 


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i'pr>RNii 


CHAPTER    XXIII 

SUPERSTITIONS    ABOUT    WOMEN 

"  'Tis  a  history 
Handed  from  ages  down  ;  a  nurse's  tale, 
Which  children,  open-eyed  and  mouth'd,  devour  ; 
And  thus,  as  garrulous  ignorance  relates, 
We  learn  it,  and  believe." 


THE  life  of  woman  from  the  cradle  to  the 
grave  has  always,  from  the  earliest  period, 
been  surrounded  with  all  manner  of  curious 
beliefs,  some  of  which  have  already  been  inci- 
dentally alluded  to  in  the  preceding  pages.  And, 
strange  to  say,  even  at  the  present  day,  these  old- 
world  fancies — childish  as  they  only  too  frequently 
are — exercise,  not  unfrequently,  a  strong  influence 
even  in  high  places  upon  womankind,  and  often- 
times they  crop  up  in  the  most  unexpected  manner 
when  urged  in  support  of  some  event  in  a  woman's 
life — either  for  weal  or  woe — which,  by  the  credu- 
lous, is  held  to  be  the  natural  outcome  of  fate 
as  expressed  in  what  may  be  termed  folk-lore 
formulas. 


216 


Superstitions  about   Women  217 

Thus,  to  give  a  few  popular  illustrations,  many 
a  woman  has  attributed  her  misfortune  in  life  to 
having  been  a  u  May  chet " — that  is,  born  in 
May  ;  for,  as  the  adage  runs  : — 

"  May  chets, 
Bad  luck  begets ;" 

whilst,  in  the  West  of  England,  a  girl's  future  is 
still  supposed  to  be,  more  or  less,  determined  by 
the  day  of  her  birth,  for  "  Sunday's  child  is  full  of 
grace,"  and  as  an  old  couplet  says  : — 

"  The  child  of  Sunday  and  Christmas  Day 
Is  good  and  fair,  and  wise  and  gay." 

And,  in  the  same  way,  popular  imagination  has 
gathered  from  certain  features  of  a  woman's 
person  supposed  indications  not  only  of  her 
character,  but  also  of  events  likely,  sooner  or 
later,  to  befall  her.  A  mole  on  the  neck,  for 
instance,  denotes  that  there  is  wealth  in  store  for 
her,  a  local  rhyme,  often  quoted  in  the  county  of 
Nottingham,  running  thus  : — 

"  I  have  a  mole  above  my  right  eye, 
And  shall  be  a  lady  before  I  die  ; 
As  things  may  happen,  as  things  may  fall, 
Who  knows  but  that  I  may  be  Lady  of  Bunny  Hall  r  " 

and,  according  to  another  version,  of  which  there 
are  several,  we  are  reminded  that — 

"  If  you've  got  a  mole  above  your  chin, 
You'll  never  be  beholden  to  any  of  your  kin." 


2i8  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

Similarly,  inferences  of  various  kinds  have,  at 
one  time  or  another,  been  drawn  from  the  eyes, 
although  these  have  not  always  been  of  a  very 
auspicious  character,  for  it  said  of  the  eyebrows — 

"  They  that  meet  across  the  nose, 
Will  never  wear  their  wedding  clothes." 

Another  version  being  thus  : — 

"  If  your  eyebrows  meet  across  the  nose, 
You'll  never  live  to  wear  your  wedding  clothes."  T 

But  superstitious  fancies  connected  with  the  eye 
have  existed  everywhere,  and  a  piece  of  Indian 
folk-lore  tells  us  that — 

"When  the  right  eye  throbs,  it's  mother  or  sister  coming  ; 
When  the  left  eye  throbs,  it's  brother  or  husband  coming  ; " 

an  omen  which,  by  the  by,  is  very  old,  being 
mentioned  by  Theocritus,  who  says:  "My  right 
eye  issues  now,  and  I  shall  see  my  love."  And 
this  notion  survives  to-day,  for,  according  to  the 
popular  adage,  "  When  the  right  eye  itches,  the 
party  affected  will  shortly  cry  ;  if  the  left,  they  will 
laugh."  And  in  the  old  days,  when  one  of  the 
terrors  of  daily  life  was  the  "  evil  eye  "—to  which 
both  sexes  were  thought  to  be  exposed,  an  allusion 
to  which  delusion  is  made  in  "Titus  Andronicus  " 
(act  ii.  sc.  i),  where  Aaron  speaks  of  Timora  as — 

"...  fettered  in  amorous  chains, 
And  faster  bound  to  Aaron's  charming  eyes 
Than  is  Prometheus  tied  to  Caucasus  " — 


See  further  allusions  in  the  Chapter  on  the  Eyes. 


Superstitions  about   Women  219 

the  "  wise  woman "  was  much  in  request,  her 
advice  in  case  of  emergency  having  been  freely- 
sought  to  the  lucrative  profit  of  her  own  pocket. 
Sometimes  the  woman  was  the  guilty  person  in  the 
matter  of  the  "  evil  eye,"  as  appeared  from  a  case 
brought  some  years  ago  before  the  Guardians  of 
the  Shaftesbury  Union,  in  which  an  appellant  for 
relief  stated  that  he  was  unable  to  earn  his  liveli- 
hood through  having  been  "  overlooked  "  by  his 
sister-in-law.  It  was  stated  in  evidence  that, 
although  his  wife  had  resorted  for  help  to  a 
"  Wise  Woman,"  it  was  to  no  purpose,  as  her 
efforts  were  perfectly  ineffectual  to  remove  the 
spell  under  which  he  lay. 

Among  other  indications  that  some  influence, 
either  good  or  the  reverse,  is  at  work,  is  what  is 
commonly  called  "  cheek  burning,"  and,  in  case 
it  should  be  the  latter,  the  following  curse  has 
long  been  repeated  at  such  a  time  by  the  fair 
sex  : — 

"  Right  cheek,  left  cheek,  why  do  you  burn  ? 
Cursed  be  she  that  doth  me  any  harm  : 
If  she  be  a  maid,  let  her  be  staid  ; 
If  she  be  a  widow,  long  let  her  mourn  ; 
But  if  it  be  my  own  true  love — burn,  cheek,  burn  !  " 

A  "  blue  vein  "  across  the  nose  has,  from  time 
immemorial,  been  regarded  by  the  fair  sex  as 
"  a  hateful  sign,"  and  oftentimes  it  has  been  the 
cause  of  much  needless  alarm.  Among  the  many 
instances  given  of  this  folk-lore  belief  may  be 
quoted  one  narrative  in  Hunt's  "Popular 
Romances  of  the  West  of  England  "  :   "A  fond 


220  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

mother  was  paying  more  than  ordinary  attention 
to  a  fine  healthy-looking  child,  a  boy,  about  three 
years  old.  The  poor  woman's  breast  was  heaving 
with  emotion,  and  she  struggled  to  repress  her 
sighs.  Upon  inquiring  if  anything  was  really 
wrong,  she  said  :  *  The  lady  of  the  house  had  just 
told  her  that  the  child  could  not  live  long,  because 
he  had  a  blue  vein  across  his  nose.'  " 

But  just  as  lucky  is  the  young  girl  supposed  to 
be  whose  teeth  are  wide  apart,  such  a  peculiarity 
being  held  to  be  a  sure  indication  of  her  bright 
and  prosperous  future.  A  correspondent  of  Notes 
and  Queries  writes  thus  :  "  A  young  lady,  the 
other  day,  in  reply  to  an  observation  of  mine, 
'  What  a  lucky  girl  you  are,'  answered,  '  So  they 
used  to  say  I  should  be,  when  at  school.'  '  Why  ? ' 
'  Because  my  teeth  were  set  so  far  apart ;  it  was 
a  sure  sign  that  I  should  be  lucky,  and  travel.' ' 
Indeed,  there  is  scarcely  a  part  of  the  human  body 
which  has  not  had  some  piece  of  folk-lore  attached 
to  it  ;  and  Suffolk  girls  are  still  in  the  habit  of 
humming  the  well-known  doggerel  when  occasion 
requires  : — 

"If  your  head  itches 
You're  going  to  get  riches  ; 
Rub  it  on  wood, 
Sure  to  come  good  ; 
Rub  it  on  iron, 
Sure  to  come  flying  ; 
Rub  it  on  brass, 
Sure  to  come  to  pass  ; 
Rub  it  on  steel, 
Sure  to  come  a  deal  ; 
Rub  it  on  tin, 
Sure  to  come  agin." 


Superstitions  about   Women  221 

And,  it  may  be  added,  with  slight  variation,  this 
rhyme  is  used  of  the  right  ankle  and  hand. 

There  are  a  good  many  curious  items  of  folk- 
lore relating  to  the  growth  of  the  hair ;  and, 
according  to  a  Yorkshire  belief,  when  a  woman's 
hair  grows  in  a  low  point  on  the  forehead,  it  is 
commonly  supposed  to  presage  widowhood,  and 
is  hence  nicknamed  "  a  widow's  peak."  A  great 
deal  of  hair  on  the  head  has,  in  the  case  of  both 
sexes,  been  said  to  be  indicative  of  a  lack  of 
brains,  a  belief  embodied  in  the  familiar  proverb, 
"  Bush  natural,  more  hairs  than  wit."  Thus 
Shakespeare  alludes  to  this  popular  fancy  in  the 
"  Two  Gentlemen  of  Verona  "  (act  iii.  sc.  2)  where 
he  makes  Speed  say  :  "  She  hath  more  hair  than 
wit,  and  more  faults  than  brain,  and  more  wealth 
than  faults."  It  is  interesting,  again,  to  note  that 
in  German  folk-lore  the  idea  of  hair  as  a  substi- 
tute for  its  owner  is  discernible  ;  where  a  practice 
known  as  "  hair-snatching  "  is  observed.  By  this 
means,  on  St.  Andrew's  Day,  anxious  aspirants  to 
matrimony  may  ascertain  what  coloured  hair  their 
future  husbands  have.  The  mode  of  procedure  is 
for  the  young  lady  towards  midnight  to  take  hold 
of  the  latch  of  the  door,  and  to  call  out  three 
times,  "  Gentle  love,  if  thou  lovest  me,  show 
thyself !  "  She  must  then  open  the  door  a  few 
inches,  make  a  sudden  snatch  out  in  the  dark, 
when  she  will  find  in  her  hand  a  lock  of  her  future 
husband's  hair.  One  of  the  indispensable  con- 
ditions for  the  success  of  this  charm  is  that  she 
should  be  quite  alone  in  the  house,  and  make  the 
trial    unknown    to   any   one.       The  same  notion 


222  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

of  substitution  occurs  in  the  love-charms  of  this 
country  ;  and,  according  to  one  old  formula,  "  two 
girls  must  sit  in  a  room  by  themselves  from  twelve 
o'clock  at  night  till  one  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
without  speaking.  During  this  time  each  must 
take  as  many  hairs  from  her  head  as  she  is  years 
old,  and  having  put  them  into  a  linen  cloth,  with 
some  of  the  herb  true-love,  as  soon  as  the  clock 
strikes  one,  she  must  turn  every  hair  separately, 
saying — 

"  I  offer  this  my  sacrifice, 
To  him  most  precious  in  my  eyes  ; 
I  charge  thee  now  come  forth  to  me, 
That  I  this  minute  may  thee  see." 

Indeed  the  anxious  maiden,  in  her  natural  long- 
ings to  lift  the  veil  of  futurity,  has  rarely  failed  to 
find  a  sign  or  token  of  the  kind  required,  not  only 
in  some  natural  objects,  such  as  birds,  animals, 
insects,  moss  and  plants,  but  even  in  such  trivial 
objects  as  those  connected  with  her  own  dress. 
Thus  girls  when  in  a  strange  bed  would,  in  years 
past,  tie  their  garters  nine  times  round  the  bed- 
post, and  knit  as  many  knots  in  them,  repeating 
these  lines  by  way  of  incantation — 

"  This  knot  I  knit,  this  knot  I  tie, 
To  see  my  lover  as  he  goes  by, 
In  his  apparel  and  array, 
As  he  walks  in  every  day  ;  " 

there  being  various  versions  of  this  rhyme,  one 
of  which  runs  thus  :  — 


Superstitions  about   Women  223 

"  This  knot  I  knit 
To  know  the  thing  I  know  not  yet  : 

That  I  may  see 
The  man  that  shall  my  husband  be  ; 
How  he  goes  and  what  he  wears, 
And  what  he  does  all  days  and  years." 

In  the  same  way,  on  a  Friday  night,  the  young 
girl  would  draw  her  left  stocking  into  her  right, 
saying  : — 

"  This  is  the  blessed  Friday  night 
I  draw  my  left  stocking  into  my  right  ; 
To  dream  of  the  living,  not  of  the  dead, 
To  dream  of  the  young  man  I  am  to  wed." 

Many  omens  have  long  been  drawn  by  women 
from  the  shoe,  and  according  to  the  teaching  of  a 
Suffolk  rhyme  : — 

"  Tip  at  the  toe,  live  to  see  woe  ; 
Wear  at  the  side,  live  to  be  a  bride  ; 
Wear  at  the  ball,  live  to  spend  all  ; 
Wear  at  the  back,  live  to  save  a  deal." 

And  the  time-honoured  practice  for  young  girls  to 
place  their  shoes  in  the  form  of  the  letter  T  still 
survives,  with  its  couplet — 

"  Hoping  this  night  my  true  love  to  see, 
I  place  my  shoes  in  the  form  of  a  T." 

But  leaving  dress,  with  its  many  superstitions, 
we  find  even  the  cat  the  object  of  superstition,  for 
it  is  commonly  said  in  the  northern  counties  : 

"Whenever  the  cat  of  the  house  is  black, 
The  lasses  of  lovers  will  have  no  lack." 


224  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

And  there  is  the  deep-rooted  but  groundless  belief 
of  many  a  young  mother  that  pussy  stiffles  the 
breath  of  the  baby  if  she  gets  the  chance,  and 
peasant  girls  in  our  northern  counties,  too,  still 
cling  to  the  notion  that — 

"Kiss  the  black  cat,  an'  'twill  make  ye  fat  ; 
Kiss  the  white  one,  'twill  make  ye  lean." 

The  old  belief  of  placing,  as  a  charm,  a  knife 
near  a  sleeping  child  has  not  died  out,  and  what 
Herrick  long  ago  described  is  repeated  to-day  : — 

"  Let  the  superstitious  wife 
Near  the  child's  heart  lay  a  knife, 
Point  be  up,  and  haft  be  down  ; 
While  she  gossips  in  the  town. 
This  'mong  other  mystic  charms 
Keeps  the  sleeping  child  from  harms." 

In  the  midland  counties,  grandmothers  exclaim, 
"  God  help  you  !  "  when  they  hear  a  child  sneeze  ; 
and  Scotch  folk-lore  tells  us  that  a  new-born  child 
is  considered  by  its  nurse  to  be  in  the  fairy  spells 
until  it  has  sneezed. 

According  to  a  Shropshire  belief,  it  is  said 
that  : — 

"She  that  pricks  bread  with  fork  or  knife 
Will  never  be  a  happy  maid  or  wife  ;  " 

for  this  little  act  should  always  be  done  with 
a  skewer.  A  common  notion,  too,  is  that  if  a 
loaf  accidentally  part  in  the  hand  of  an  unmarried 
girl,  she  will  have  little  or  no  chance  of  getting 
married  during  the  next  twelve  months  ;  and  the 


Superstitions  about   Women  225 


same  result  is  supposed  to  follow,  if  at  a  social 
gathering  a  girl  is  inadvertently  placed  between 
a  man  and  his  wife. 

Imaginary  impediments  to  matrimony  of  this 
kind  are  very  numerous  in  a  woman's  folk-lore, 
and  it  is  through  the  same  fear  that  Swedish 
young  ladies  abstain  from  looking  into  the  glass 
after  dark,  or  by  candlelight,  for  fear  of  forfeiting 
the  good  opinion  of  the  opposite  sex.  Similarly, 
in  this  and  other  countries,  there  is  a  strong 
antipathy  among  the  fair  sex  for  one  to  even 
look  at  a  man,  however  attractive  he  may  be, 
whose  name  commences  with  the  same  letter  as 
her  own  ;  for,  in  marriage — 

"  To  change  the  name  and  not  the  letter, 
Is  a  change  for  the  worse  and  not  the  better." 

And  we  may  note  here  that  among  the  many 
reasons  assigned  for  the  ill-luck  of  May  marriages 
is  that  not  only  from  such  union,  "  All  the  bairns 
die  and  decay,"  but  that  women  disobeying  the 
rule  would  be  childless  ;  or,  if  they  had  children, 
that  the  first-born  would  be  an  idiot,,  or  have  some 
physical  deformity  ;  or  that  the  married  couple 
would  not  live  happily  in  their  new  life,  but  in 
a  very  short  time  grow  weary  of  each  other's 
society — popular  fancies  which  are  still  held  by 
women. 

Strange  to  say,  a  somewhat  similar  penalty  is 
said,  in  the  North  of  England,  to  overtake  the 
rash  young  lady  who  is  present  at  church  when 
the  banns  of  marriage  are  put  up,  as  any  children 
she  may  hereafter  have  run  the  risk  of  being  born 

16 


226  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

deaf  and  dumb.  The  same  notion  prevails  in 
Worcestershire,  and  some  years  ago  a  correspon- 
dent of  Notes  and  Queries  tells  how  a  girl  urged 
as  an  excuse  for  not  hearing  the  publication 
of  her  banns  the  risk  of  bringing  the  curse  of 
dumbness  on  her  offspring,  adding  that  one  of  her 
friends  who  had  transgressed  this  rule  "  by  hearing 
herself  asked  out  at  church,"  in  due  course  had 
six  children,  all  of  whom  were  deaf  and  dumb. 
Omens  from  dreams  have,  at  all  times,  held 
a  prominent  place  in  a  woman's  folk-lore,  and 
one  may  often  hear  a  Shropshire  damsel  use  the 
proverbial  old  couplet  which  tells  how — 

"  A  Friday  night's  dream  on  Saturday  told, 
Is  due  to  come  true  be  it  never  so  old  "  ; 

which  is  much  after  the  same  fashion  as  a  couplet 
current  in  Gloucestershire  : — 

"  Friday  night's  dream  mark  well, 
Saturday  night's  dream  ne'er  tell." 

Indeed,  Friday's  dreams  would  seem  to  be 
regarded  by  women  with  special  favour,  in  illus- 
tration of  which  belief  may  be  quoted  a  rhyme 
current  in  Norfolk  : — 

"  To-night,  to-night,  is  Friday  night, 
Lay  me  down  in  dirty  white, 
Dream  whom  my  husband  is  to  be  ; 
And  lay  my  children  by  my  side, 
If  I'm  to  live  to  be  his  bride." 

The    interpretation    of  dreams    has,    in    most 
countries,  been  made  the  subiect  of  much  ingenious 


Superstitions  about    Women  227 

speculation,  and  many  a  "  Dictionary  of  Dreams  " 
has  been  framed  to  help  the  fair  sex  in  this  matter. 
But,  of  the  thousand  and  one  incidents  which  are 
ever  nightly  being  repeated  in  dreamland,  there 
would  seem  to  be  a  consensus  of  opinion  in 
dream  books  that  dreaming  of  balls  and  dancing 
indicates  some  stroke  of  good  luck  in  the 
marriage  way  to  the  young  lady,  it  being  said 
that  those 

"  Who  dream  of  being  at  a  ball 
No  cause  have  they  for  fear, 
For  soon  will  they  united  be 
To  those  they  hold  most  dear." 

And  a  further  example  we  may  quote  from 
"  Mother  Bunch's  Closet  Newly  Broke  Open" 
(Percy  Society,  xxiii.  10- 11),  because  this  mode 
of  divination  has  been  one,  perhaps  more  than 
any  other,  practised  both  at  home  and  abroad  by 
young  girls  anxious  to  gain  a  sweetheart  : — 

"  Yet  I  have  another  pretty  way  for  a  maid  to 
know  her  sweetheart,  which  is  as  follows  :  Take 
a  summer  apple  of  the  best  fruit,  stick  pins  close 
into  the  apple  to  the  head,  and  as  you  stick  them, 
take  notice  which  of  them  is  the  middlemost,  and 
give  it  what  name  you  fancy,  put  it  into  thy 
left-hand  glove,  and  lay  it  under  thy  pillow 
on  Saturday  night  when  thou  gettest  into  bed, 
then  clap  thy  hands  together,  and  say  these 
words  : — 

"  '  If  thou  be  he  that  must  have  me 
To  be  thy  wedded  bride, 
Make  no  delay  but  come  away, 
This  night  to  my  bedside.' " 


CHAPTER   XXIV 

woman's  tears 

"  Tears  are  the  strength  of  women." — Saint  Evremond. 

THE  propensity  for  a  woman  to  shed  tears 
on  the  slightest  emotion  has  long  been  the 
subject  of  frequent  comment  in  proverbial  litera- 
ture, and,  according  to  Ricard,  "  Women  never 
weep  more  bitterly  than  when  they  weep  with 
spite."  This  common  occurrence  of  everyday 
life  is  thus  noticed  in  a  popular  Scotch  adage, 
which  tells  us  that  "  It's  nae  mair  ferlie  to  see 
a  woman  greet  than  to  see  a  guse  gang  barefit " — 
the  meaning  being  that  it  is  no  more  wonder  to 
see  a  woman  cry  than  to  see  a  goose  "  go  bare- 
foot." Indeed,  this  characteristic  of  woman,  it 
might  be  expected,  has  not  escaped  ridicule  and 
censure,  for,  according  to  an  old  Latin  proverb, 
"  The  laughter,  the  tears,  and  the  song  of  a 
woman  are  equally  deceptive  ;  "  which  is  some- 
what after  the  same  fashion  as  the  French  maxim, 
"  A  woman's  tears  are  a  fountain  of  craft  ;  "  and 


Woman  s   Tears  229 

the  Spanish  proverb,  "  A  woman's  tears  and  a 
dog's  limping  are  not  real."  How  little  is  re- 
quired to  make  a  woman  weep  has  been  noticed 
by  Sir  Walter  Scott,  who  pictured  aright  human 
life  when  he  wrote  : — 

''■  A  child  will  weep  at  a  bramble's  smart, 
A  maid  to  see  her  sparrow  part, 
A  stripling  for  a  woman's  heart  ; 
But  woe  awaits  a  country  when 
She  sees  the  tears  of  bearded  men." 

And,  among  the  many  proverbial  maxims  which 
endorse  this  view,  we  may  quote  this  couplet  : — 

"  Deceit,  weeping,  spinning,  God  hath  give 
To  women,  kindly,  while  they  may  live." 

Much  to  the  same  purport  is  the  Italian  adage  : — 

"  A  woman  complains,  a  woman's  in  woe  ; 
A  woman  is  sick  when  she  likes  to  be  so  ;  " 

and  the  old  French  saying,  which  says,  "Women 
laugh  when  they  can  and  weep  when  they  will." 
But,  as  Joanna  Baillie,  in  "  Basil,"  truly  writes  : — 

Y      "  Woman's  grief  is  like  a  summer  storm, 
Short  as  it  is  violent " — 

a  statement  borne  out  by  the  popular  saying, 
which  likens  her  tears  to  an  April  shower,  which 
is  generally  sharp  and  soon  over. 

But,  given  as  a  woman  is  to  tears,  grief  would 
not  seem  to  injure  her,  if  there  be  any  truth  in 
the   proverb  which   says,  "  A  cat   has  nine  lives, 


Folk- Lore  of  Women 


and  a  woman  has  nine  cats'  lives,"  an  allusion 
to  which  quaint  belief  occurs  in  Middleton's 
"Blurt,  Master  Constable,"  1602,  where  we  find 
this  passage  :  "  They  have  nine  lives  apiece,  like 
a  woman  ;  "  and  the  same  idea  is  conveyed  in  the 
proverb,  quoted  elsewhere,  "  Though  most  women 
be  long-lived,  yet  they  all  die  with  an  ill-will." 

It  is  generally  supposed  that  a  woman  who 
laughs  before  breakfast  will  cry  before  night,  with 
which  agrees  the  Scotch  proverb,  "  Laugh  at 
leisure  ;  ye  may  greet  ere  night." 

In  the  evidence  given  at  an  inquest  on  the 
bodies  of  four  persons  killed  by  an  explosion  at 
a  firework  manufactory  in  Bermondsey,  October 
12,    1849,    one    °f   tne    witnesses    stated:    "On 

Friday  they  were  all  very  merry,  and  Mrs.  B 

said  she  feared  something  would  happen  before 
they  went  to  bed,  because  they  were  so  happy." 

But  even  a  woman's  smiles  must  be  received 
with  caution,  it  is  said,  come  when  they  may,  for, 
as  the  Italians  say,  "  The  smiles  of  a  pretty  woman 
are  the  tears  of  the  purse  ;  "  or,  as  another  version 
has  it,  "  When  a  pretty  woman  laughs  it  is  certain 
that  a  purse  complains." 


CHAPTER  XXV 


WOM  ANS      BLUSHES 

"  From  every  blush  that  kindles  in  thy  cheeks 
Ten  thousand  little  loves  and  graces  spring, 
To  revel  in  the  roses." — Rowe,  Tamerlane. 

PERHAPS  one  of  the  most  charming 
characteristics  of  maidenhood  is  its 
transient  blush,  which  poets  with  all  their  wealth 
of  poetic  imagery  have  depicted  in  a  thousand 
pretty  ways,  so  often  described  by  them  as 
playing  on  the  cheeks  with  all  the  roseate  hue  of 
loveliness,  and  what  more  graceful  picture  can 
there  be  than  Gay  has  given  us  : — 

p     "  The  rising  blushes  which  her  cheek  o'erspread, 
Are  opening  roses  in  the  lily's  bed." 

Such  Shakesperian  expressions  as  "  Bid  the  cheek 
be  ready  with  a  blush,  modest  as  morning," 
"  Thy  cheeks  blush  with  pure  shame  to  counter- 
feit our  roses/'  and  "  To  blush  and  beautify  the 
cheek   again,"  would    seem   to  suggest    the   high 

231 


232  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

charm  blushes  had  for  Shakespeare  ;  although, 
on  the  other  hand,  expressions  like  the  following 
must  be  held  to  imply  a  very  different  meaning — 
"  Her  blush  is  gluttiness,  not  modesty,"  and 
"  Blushing  cheeks  by  faults  are  bred,  and  fears 
by  pale  white  shown."  But,  however  numerous 
the  diverse  views  of  this  kind  may  be — many  of 
which  have  been  embodied  in  proverbial  literature 
— there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  consensus  of 
opinion,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  has  always 
been  in  favour  of  a  woman's  blush,  for,  in 
accordance  with  the  time-honoured  adage, 
"  Blushing  is  virtue's  colour." 

Even  the  Circassian  women  who  are  capable  or 
blushing  fetch  a  higher  price  in  the  seraglio  of 
the  Sultan  than  less  susceptible  women ;  and 
Darwin  quotes  from  Humboldt  an  adage  of  the 
Spaniard,  "  How  can  those  be  trusted  who  know 
not  how  to  blush  ?  " 

Indeed,  it  has  been  observed,  she  who  has  lost 
the  art  of  blushing  has  lost  the  most  powerful 
charm  of  beauty,  for  deprived  of  her  most 
maidenly  blushes  what  would  Parnell's  beauty 
have  been  :  — 

"A  crimson  blush  her  beauteous  face  o'erspread, 
Varying  her  cheeks,  by  turn,  with  white  and  red  ; 
The  driving  colours,  never  at  a  stay, 
Run  here  and  there,  and  flush,  and  fade  away." 

But  the  Italians  have  a  proverb,  which  is  often 
applied  to  those  who  mar  their  features  by 
artificial  colouring,  "  Women  rouge  that  they  may 
not  blush."     As  might  be  expected,  all  kinds  of 


Woman  s  Blushes  233 

strange  views  have  at  one  time  or  another  been 
held  in  most  countries  respecting  blushing,  some 
of  the  explanations  not  always  being  very  compli- 
mentary to  the  fair  sex.  Thus,  according  to  one 
popular  fancy,  it  is  supposed  to  be  an  indication 
of  conscious  deceit,  and  in  the  "  Passionate 
Pilgrim,"  we  find  this  allusion  to  blushing,  which 
under  one  form  or  another  has  been  variously 
expressed  : — 

"  Yet  will  she  blush,  here  be  it  said, 
To  hear  her  secrets  so  betrayed." 

Pope  writes,  "  Do  good  by  stealth,  and 
blush  to  find  it  fame ; "  but  George  Eliot,  in 
"  Daniel  Deronda,"  l  speaks  somewhat  disparag- 
ingly of  the  blush,  which  she  says  "  is  no 
language  ;  only  a  dubious  flag-signal,  which  may 
mean  either  of  two  contradictions  ;  "  and  Moore 
speaks  of — 

11  Playful  blushes  that  seem  nought 
But  luminous  escapes  of  thought." 

It  has  long  been  a  much  disputed  question — and 
one  which  does  not  seem  altogether  to  have  been 
satisfactorily  answered — as  to  whether  blushing 
takes  place  in  the  dark,  an  interesting  correspond- 
ence relative  to  which  was  carried  on  a  few  years 
back  in  the  pages  of  Notes  and  Queries,2  when 
Mr.  J.  C.  Galton  expressed  his  opinion  in  the 
negative. 

1  Book  v.,  chap.  xxxv. 

2  See  Notes  and  Queries,  5th  Series,  vii.  p.  145. 


234  Folk- Lore  of  Women 


Darwin,  however,  appears  to  have  thought 
differently,  for,  in  his  "  Expressions  of  the 
Emotions,"  he  thus  alludes  to  this  subject  : — 

u  The  fact  that  blushes  may  be  excited  in 
absolute  solitude  seems  opposed  to  the  view, 
namely,  that  the  habit  originally  arose  from 
thinking  about  what  others  think  of  us.  Several 
ladies  who  are  great  blushers,  are  unanimous  in 
regard  to  solitude,  and  some  of  them  believe  that 
they  have  blushed  in  the  dark.  From  what  Mr. 
Forbes  has  stated  with  regard  to  the  Aymaras, 
and  from  my  own  sensations,  I  have  no  doubt  that 
this  latter  statement  is  correct.  Shakespeare,  there- 
fore, erred  when  he  made  Juliet,  who  was  not 
even  by  herself,  say  to  Romeo  (act  ii.  sc.  2)  : — 

y  "  *  Thou  know'st  the  mark  of  night  is  on  my  face  ; 
Else  would  a  maiden's  blush  bedeck  my  cheek, 
For  that  which  thou  hast  heard  me  speak  to-night.'  " 


CHAPTER   XXVI 


DAUGHTERS 


"  My  son  is  my  son  till  he  hath  got  him  a  wife, 
But  my  daughter's  my  daughter  all  the  days  of  her  life." 

THE  proper  bringing  up,  and  putting  out  in 
life,  of  daughters  have  always  been  a  moot 
point  in  proverbial  philosophy,  but  it  would 
seem  that  most  countries  are  agreed  in  regarding 
marriage  as  the  best  thing  for  their  happiness, 
although  this  is  not  always  an  easy  matter,  for, 
as  it  is  said  in  Germany,  "  Daughters  are  easy 
to  rear,  but  difficult  to  marry  ;  "  which  is  much  to 
the  same  purport  as  the  Spanish  adage,  "  When 
a  good  offer  comes  for  a  daughter,  don't  wait  till 
her  father  returns  from  market,"  for  fear  the 
opportunity  should  slip  by  ;  another  German 
saying  reminding  us  that  "  Daughters  and  dead 
fish  are  no  keeping  wares."  There  are  numerous 
versions  of  this  piece  of  proverbial  philosophy, 
a  well-known  adage  recommending  parents  thus  : 
"  Marry  your  son  when  you  will,  your  daughter 
when  you  can." 

235 


y 


236  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

It  is  not  every  parent,  it  may  be  remembered, 
who  is  in  the  position  to  make  conditions  similar 
to  the  following,  told  in  a  West  African  folk- 
tale :— 

A  certain  man  had  a  most  beautiful  daughter, 
who  was  beset  by  many  suitors.  But  as  soon  as 
they  were  told  that  the  sole  condition  on  which 
they  could  obtain  her  was  to  bale  out  a  brook 
with  a  ground  nut  shell  they  always  walked  away 
in  disappointment.  However,  at  last  one  took 
heart  of  grace  and  began  the  task.  He  obtained 
the  young  lady,  for  the  father  said,  "  He  who 
undertakes  what  he  says,  will  do  it." 

A  propos  of  the  value  of  grown-up  daughters, 
an  amusing  story  is  told  by  Mr.  Baring  Gould  in 
illustration  of  a  curious  baptismal  superstition 
which  still  lingers  on  in  Yorkshire,  where  it  is 
said  the  first  child  baptised  in  a  new  font  is  sure 
to  die — a  reminiscence  of  the  sacrifice  which  was 
used  for  the  consecration  of  every  dwelling  and 
temple  in  heathen  times. 

"  When  I  was  incumbent  of  Dalton,"  he  writes, 
"  a  new  church  was  built.  A  blacksmith  in  the 
village  had  seven  daughters,  after  which  a  son 
was  born,  and  he  came  to  me  a  few  days  after  the 
consecration  of  the  new  church  to  ask  me  to 
baptise  his  boy  in  the  old  temporary  church  and 
font. 

u  *  Why,  Joseph/  said  I,  !  if  you  only  wait  till 
Thursday,  the  boy  can  be  baptised  in  the  new 
font  on  the  opening  of  the  new  church/ 

"  l  Thank  you,  sir/  replied  the  blacksmith  with 
a  wriggle,  *  but,  you  see,  it's  a  lad,  and  we  shu'd 


Daughters  1 37 


be  sorry  if  he  were  to  die  ;  ha'  if  t'had  been  a 
lass  instead,  why  then,  you  were  welcome,  for 
'twouldn't  ha'  mattered  a  ha'penny.  Lasses  are 
ower  money,  and  lads  ower  few  wi'  us.'  ' 

But  the  blacksmith's  reference  to  his  seven 
daughters  reminds  us  that  for  very  many  years 
past  extraordinary  powers  have  been  generally 
supposed  to  reside  in  the  "  seventh  daughter," 
strange  instances  of  which  have  from  time  to  time 
been  recorded  in  the  literature  of  the  past.  Thus 
the  Scotch  fortune-teller  commonly  boasted  that 
she  was  the  seventh  daughter  of  a  seventh  daughter, 
and  by  this  means  she  contrived  to  ingratiate  herself 
among  the  lower  orders. 

A  correspondent  of  Notes  and  Queries,  writing 
some  years  ago,  records  how  "  In  Saltash  Street, 
Plymouth,  my  friend  copied  on  December  10, 
1852,  the  following  notice  on  a  board,  indicating 
the  profession  and  claims  of  the  inhabitant  :  l  A. 
Shepherd,  the  third  seventh  daughter — doctress.'  " 

x  As  in  the  case  of  the  "  seventh  son,"  such  a  child 
is  born  a  physician,  possessing  an  intuitive  know- 
ledge of  the  art  of  healing  all  manners  of  disorders, 
and  even  occasionally  the  faculty  of  performing 
wonderful  cures  by  only  the  touch  of  the  finger. 
Some  years  ago  a  herbalist  in  the  West  of  England 
declared  that  she  was  "  in  the  habit  of  healing 
scores  of  people  that  medical  men  had  given  up," 
her    credentials    being   that  she  was    the    seventh 

•  daughter  of  the  seventh  daughter  of  the  seventh 
daughter. 

And  to  this  day,  in  some  places,  there  exists  a 
strong  prejudice  against    baptising    a    boy  before 


238  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

a  girl,  an  amusing  instance  of  which  is  given 
by  the  late  Cuthbert  Bede  in  Notes  and  Queries 
as  having  occurred  in  a  Worcestershire  parish. 

On  the  occasion  in  question  there  were  three 
baptisms,  two  boys  and  a  girl,  and  when  the  first 
child  was  about  to  be  christened  the  woman  who 
carried  the  little  girl  elbowed  her  way  up  to  the 
parson,  in  order  that  the  child  in  her  arms  might 
be  the  first  to  be  baptized.  By  way  of  apology, 
she  said  to  one  of  the  sponsors,  "  It's  a  girl,  so  it 
must  be  christened  first.7' 

On  the  following  day  an  opportunity  was  taken 
to  ascertain  her  motive,  and  this  was  her  explana- 
tion :  u  You  see,  sir,  the  parson  bain't  a  married 
man,  and  consequentially  is  disfamiliar  with  chil- 
dren, or  he'd  a-never  put  the  little  girl  to  be 
christened  after  the  boys.  And  although  it  sadly 
fluster'd  me,  sir,  to  put  myself  afore  my  betters 
in  the  way  which  I  was  fosed  to  do,  yet,  sir,  it 
was  the  doing  of  a  kindness  to  them  two  little 
boys  in  me  a-setting  of  my  little  daughter  afore 
'em." 

«  Why  ?  " 

"  Well,  sir,  if  them  little  boys  had  been 
christened  afore  the  little  girl,  they'd  have  her 
soft  chin  and  she'd  have  had  their  hairy  beards — 
the  poor  little  incident !  But,  thank  goodness, 
I've  kept  her  from  that  misfortune." 

On  the  other  hand,  strange  to  say,  in  Scotland, 
and  in  some  parts  of  the  North  of  England,  just 
the  reverse  practice  is  observed,  the  Scotch  reason 
being  that  to  christen  a  girl  before  a  boy  would  be 
to  make  the  former  of  a  masculine  nature,  while 


Daughters  239 


the  latter  would  grow  up  effeminate.  A  corre- 
spondent of  Notes  and  Queries,  writing  from 
Darlington  in  1867,  says,  "While  standing  at  the 
font,  and  preparing  to  baptise  two  children,  the 
nurse  attending  on  one  of  the  parties  abruptly 
demanded  of  the  other  nurse  if  the  child  she 
presented  was  a  boy.  When  questioned  on  the 
subject,  she  replied  that  '  she  wondered  at  my 
not  knowing  that  a  boy  was  always  christened 
before  a  girl.'  " 

An  amusing  equivocal  rhyme  long  current  in 
Durham  tells  how — 

"  John  Lively,  Vicar  of  Kelloe, 
Had  seven  daughters  and  never  a  fellow," 

which,  it  has  been  suggested,  "  may  either  mean 
that  the  parson  of  the  sixteenth  century  had  no 
son,  or  that  he  had  no  equal  in  learning."  Another 
version  of  the  proverb  reads  "  six  daughters  " — 
seven,  it  is  said,  being  often  merely  a  conventional 
number.  But,  whatever  the  object  of  this  folk- 
rhyme  may  be,  the  parson  mentions  no  son  in  his 
will,  in  which  he  leaves  to  his  daughter  Elisabeth 
his  best  gold  ring  with  a  death's  head  in  it,  and 
seventeen  yards  of  white  cloth  for  curtains  of  a 
bed,  and  to  his  daughter  Mary  his  silver  seal  of 
arms,  his  gimald  ring,  and  black  gold  ring.1 

Grown-up  daughters  at  home  would  occasion- 
ally seem  to  have  been  regarded  the  opposite  of  a 
blessing  to  their  father,  for  "  Three  daughters  and 

1  See  Halliwell's  "Popular  Rhymes,"  1849,  p.  202,  and 
Hazlitt's  "  English  Proverbs,"  1869,  p.  250. 


4°  Folk- Lore  of  Women 


a  mother,"  runs  the  German  proverb,  "  are  four 
devils  for  the  father  ;  "  but,  it  is  added,  "  Would 
you  know  your  daughter,  see  her  in  company," 
for  then  she  will  cultivate  every  charm  to  make 
herself  as  attractive  as  possible.  At  home  the 
picture  is  quite  the  reverse,  for,  runs  the  popular 
German  adage,  "  A  house  full  of  daughters  is  like 
a  cellar  full  of  sour  beer ; "  and  there  is  our 
own  proverb,  "  Marriageable,  foolish  wenches  are 
troublesome  troops  to  keep." 

A  Cheshire    maxim,  too,  speaks  in    the    same 
strain  : — 

"  I'll  tent  thee,  quoth  Wood, 
If  I  can't  rule  my  daughter,  I'll  rule  my  good." 

This  idea,  it  may  be  added,  is  conveyed  in  various 
ways,  which,  it  must  be  acknowledged,  are  far 
from  being  favourable  to  the  children,  for,  as  a 
Northamptonshire  couplet  says  : — 

"  As  tall  as  your  knee  they  are  pretty  to  see  ; 
As  tall  as  your  head  they  wish  you  were  dead." 

Hence  daughters  are  certain  cares,  but  uncertain 
comforts ;  and,  according  to  an  Oriental  proverbial 
maxim — 

"  A  daughter  after  two  sons  brings  prosperity, 
And  a  son  after  two  daughters  beggary." 

And  we  may  compare  the  Lincolnshire  couplet — 

"  Lasses  is  cumbersome, 
Lads  is  lumbersome." 


Daughters  241 


Folk-maxims  of  this  kind  might  be  easily 
multiplied,  a  popular  Welsh  adage  reminding  us 
that  "  the  worst  store  is  a  maid  unbestowed,"  but 
when  it  is  remembered  in  the  words  of  our  old 
proverb  that  "  Every  Jack  must  have  his  Jill," 
there  is  hope  for  every  daughter  of  Eve,  for  she 
may  be  the  object  of  a  passion  similar  to  that 
described  by  Charles  Dance  : — 

"  By  the  margins  of  fair  Zurich's  waters 

Dwelt  a  youth,  whose  fond  heart,  night  and  day, 
For  the  fairest  of  fair  Zurich's  daughters, 
In  a  dream  of  love  melted  way." 


17 


CHAPTER   XXVII 


MY    LADY  S    WALK 


"  Lady  of  the  mere 
Sole-sitting  by  the  shores  of  old  romance." 

Wordsworth. 


ASSOCIATED  with  many  of  our  historic 
houses  and  romantic  spots,  "  My  Lady's 
Walk  "  perpetuates  the  memory,  not  infrequently, 
of  traditions  of  a  tragic  and  legendary  kind,  some 
of  which  belong  to  incidents  bound  up  with  the 
seamy  side  of  family  romance. 

Thus  at  Huddington,  Worcestershire,  there  is 
an  avenue  of  trees  called  "  Lady  Winter's  Walk," 
where,  it  is  said,  the  lady  of  Thomas  Winter — 
who  was  forced  to  conceal  himself  on  account  of 
his  share  in  the  Gunpowder  Plot — was  in  the 
habit  of  awaiting  her  husband's  furtive  visits  ;  and 
here,  it  is  affirmed,  her  ladyship  is  still  occasionally 
seen  pacing  up  and  down  her  old  accustomed 
haunt  beneath  the  sombre  shade  of  those  aged 
trees. 


242 


My  Ladys   Walk  243 

Near  Guy's  Cave,  Warwick,  there  is  "  Fair 
Phillis's  Walk,"  where,  according  to  the  local 
tradition,  she  was  in  the  habit  of  daily  sauntering, 
lamenting  the  absence  of  her  husband  Guy,  whom 
she  supposed  to  be  dead,  or  a  prisoner  in  the 
Holy  Land,  while,  all  the  time,  he  was  in  close 
proximity  to  her,  living  in  a  cave,  disguised  as 
a  palmer,  which,  runs  the  story,  was  constructed 
by  himself,  for — 

"  There,  with  my  hands,  I  hewed  a  house, 
/  Out  of  a  craggy  rock  of  stone, 

And  lived  like  a  palmer  poor, 
Within  that  cave  myself  alone." 

It  appears  that  he  was  obliged  to  betake  himself 
to  this  life  of  penance  from  remorse  at  having 
wrought  so  much  mischief  for  the  sake  of  the  fair 
Phillis,  who,  after  the  fashion  of  the  noble  ladies 
of  her  time,  required  deeds  of  arms  from  her 
lover  before  she  would  acknowledge  his  attentions. 
But  he  made  himself  known  to  her  when  dying, 
and  ever  since  this  romantic  episode  the  spot  in 
question  has  been  known  as  "  Fair  Phillis's 
Walk." 

A  deep  ravine  within  the  summit  of  Walla 
Crag,  Keswick,  "  in  whose  ponderous  jaws," 
tradition  says,  "  the  once  errant  spirit  of  Jamie 
Lowther — the  first  Earl  of  Lonsdale — was  securely 
immured,  is  still  known  as  the  "  Lady's  Rake," 
being  the  path  by  which,  according  to  an  im- 
probable story,  the  Countess  of  Derwentwater 
effected  her  escape  on  receiving  the  news  of  her 
husband's  capture,  carrying  with  her  a  quantity  of 


244  Folk- Lore  of  Women 


jewels  and  other  valuables.  She  fled,  it  is  said, 
along  this  memorable  path  "  from  the  rage  of  the 
peasantry,  who  considered  her  to  be  the  cause  of 
the  earl's  misfortune,  having  instigated  him  to 
take  part  in  the  rebellion  against  his  better 
judgment." 

Similarly,  the  Ermine  Street,  running  from 
Godmanchester  towards  Stamford  and  Lincoln, 
was  in  years  past  locally  designated  "  Lady 
Coneyborough's  Way,"  from  an  old  tradition, 
long  remembered  in  the  neighbourhood,  that, 
when  St.  Kney burgh  was  once  pursued  by  a 
ruffianly  assailant,  "  the  road  unrolled  itself 
before  her  as  she  fled,"  and  thus  enabled  her  to 
effect  her  escape  in  safety. 

About  two  miles  from  Bolton  Castle,  on  the 
ridge  of  Leyburn  Shawl — a  green  terrace  about  a 
mile  long — there  is  a  narrow  way,  or  pass,  which 
is  commonly  known  as  the  "Queen's  Gap."  At 
this  spot,  the  story  goes,  Mary  Queen  of  Scots 
was  caught  by  Lord  Scrope  and  his  guards,  when 
attempting  to  make  her  escape  from  Bolton 
Castle.  The  pass  since  that  day — as  the  place 
of  her  recapture — has  invariably,  it  is  said,  been 
known  as  the  "  Queen's  Gap "  ;  but  such  an 
attempt  was  probably  never  made,  although,  as 
it  has  been  added,  "  the  Shawl  must  have  been 
visited  by  the  Queen,  who,  whilst  at  Bolton,  was 
allowed  to  ride  forth  hunting  and  hawking,"  under 
due  supervision. 

Historic  romance  affords  numerous  examples  of 
walks  rendered  famous  by  the  fair  sex  under  a 
variety  of  peculiar  circumstances.      According  to 


My  Lady's   Walk  245 

a  village  tradition  current  at  Ludgershall,  Bucking- 
hamshire, this  locality  was  selected  by  Henry  II. 
as  a  retreat  for  fair  Rosamond,  whose  memory 
is  still  perpetuated  by  a  lane  in  the  woods  popularly 
called  "  Rosamond's  Way."  Again,  within  a 
short  distance  of  Brougham  Castle  stands  the 
"  Countess  Pillar,"  the  approach  to  which  has 
a  romantic  interest  from  having  been  traversed 
by  two  celebrated  ladies.  The  pillar  was  erected 
in  the  year  1656  by  Lady  Anne  Clifford — "a 
memorial,"  as  its  inscription  informs  us,  "  of  her 
last  parting  at  that  place  with  her  good  and  pious 
mother,  Margaret  Countess  Dowager  of  Cumber- 
land, on  the  2nd  of  April,  an  eventful  incident 
which  has  thus  been  poetically  described  : — 

"  That  modest  stone  by  pious  Pembroke  rear'd, 
Which  still  recalls  beyond  the  pencil's  power 
The  silent  sorrows  of  a  parting  hour." 

Mab's  Cross,  again,  which  stands  at  the  top  of 
Standish  Gate,  Wigan,  at  the  entrance  of  the 
town,  commemorates  the  story  of  Lady  Mabel 
Bradshaigh,  who,  during  her  husband's  absence 
of  ten  years  in  the  Holy  Wars,  married  a  Welsh 
knight.  On  his  return  Sir  William  Bradshaigh 
was  outlawed  "  for  a  year  and  a  day  for  killing 
the  Welsh  Knight,"  and  Lady  Mabel  was  enjoined 
to  do  penance  "  by  going  once  every  week  bare- 
footed" to  the  aforesaid  Cross,  the  lane  along 
which  she  went  from  Haigh  Hall  having  been 
known  as  Mab's  Lane. 

But  a  more  pleasing  memory  is  attached  to 
Newark  Castle,  which  was  the  early  home  of  the 


246  Folk- Lore  of  Women 

Duchess  of  Monmouth  and  Buccleuch,  and  the 
scene  of  Sir  Walter  Scott's  "  Lay  of  the  Last 
Minstrel,' '  which  he  recited  for  amusement. 
Amidst  the  many  historic  associations  connected 
with  this  locality,  a  walk  leading  from  Bowhill 
by  the  Yarrow  to  the  old  Castle  is  called  the 
"  Duchess's  Walk,"  thereby  perpetuating  the  tra- 
ditions of  the  past.  And  it  may  be  remembered 
how  in  the  old  days  of  the  Scotch  Court,  when 
tournaments  and  other  chivalrous  sports  were  in 
fashion  at  Stirling,  it  was  customary  for  the  ladies 
of  the  Court  to  assemble  on  what  is  still  denomi- 
nated the  "  Ladies'  Rock  "  to  "  survey  the  knightly 
feats  of  their  admirers."  It  was  here  that  a  tour- 
nament was  held  in  the  year  1506,  in  honour  of 
a  blackamoor  girl,  who  had  been  captured  in  a 
Portugese  ship,  the  jousting  on  this  occasion  being 
conducted  with  unusual  splendour. 

Among  the  numerous  historical  episodes  and 
domestic  incidents  associated  with  Haddon  Hall, 
tradition  still  delights  to  preserve  the  romance 
attached  to  the  fine  avenue  called  "  Dorothy's 
Walk,"  for  it  was  from  "  Dorothy  Vernon's 
Door,"  with  its  overhanging  ivy  and  sycamore, 
that  the  beautiful  heiress  of  Haddon  stole  out  one 
night,  like  Jessica,  to  join  her  lover,  the  spot  in 
the  terrace,  known  to  this  day  as  "  the  Ladies' 
Steps,"  being  where  the  meeting  took  place.  The 
elopement  of  Dorothy  Vernon  has  employed  the 
pen  of  the  novelist  and  the  poet,  and  it  has  been 
thrown  into  the  form  of  a  story,  "  The  Love  Steps 
of  Dorothy  Vernon." 

On   the  other   hand,  a  Welsh  tradition   points 


My  Lady's    Walk  247 

out  l<  the  Virgin's  Meadow,"  near  Dolforwyn 
Hall,  as  the  romantic  scene  of  the  death  of 
"  Sabrina  fair,"  whose  fate  has  been  the  theme 
of  many  poets,  including  Milton  and  Drayton  : — 

"Rocky  Dolforwyn, 
Sabrina's  early  haunt,  ere  yet  she  fled 
In  search  of  Gwendolen,  her  stepdame  proud, 
With  envious  hate  enraged." 

Under  one  form  or  another  my  so-called 
"  Lady's  Walk  "  has  formed  the  source  of  much 
traditionary  lore,  and  in  numerous  cases  it  has 
gained  this  distinction  from  its  having  been  the 
"  trysting-place  "  where,  as  family  history  informs 
us,  many  a  love  affair  like  that  of  Dorothy  Vernon 
has  been  secretly  arranged.  Among  the  traditions 
told  of  Furness  Abbey,  one  of  this  kind  is  known 
as  the  "  Abbey  Vows,"  and  records  how  the  pretty 
squire's  daughter  repaired  to  the  ruins  of  Furness* 
Abbey  with  her  lover,  ere  he  went  to  sea,  to 
pledge  their  troth.  Daily  afterwards  she  regularly 
went  to  the  Abbey  by  the  same  walk  to  gaze  on 
the  spot  where  they  had  knelt,  and  nowadays, 
although  many  a  year  has  gone  by,  "  my  Lady's 
Walk"  to  Furness  Abbey  is  still  a  household  tale. 

Lastly,  occasionally  a  more  melancholy  reason 
is  given  for  a  my  Lady's  Walk,"  as  is  the  case  of 
a  tradition  told  in  connection  with  the  Spindleston 
Hills,  which  are  commonly  said  to  be  haunted  by 
a  lady  nicknamed  "  The  Wandering  Shepherdess." 
The  story  goes  that  a  certain  lady,  after  the  death 
of  her  lover,  abandoned  rank  and  wealth,  and 
spent  her  remaining  days  following  sheep  on  the 


"HE 


alii 


248 


Folk- Lore  of  Women 


hills,  and  even  now  the  peasants  affirm  she  may 
at  times  be  seen  doing  the  same  walk,  reminding 
us  of  the  lady  with  her  lantern,  who  in  stormy 
weather  walks  up  and  down  the  beach  at  St. 
Ives  on  the  Cornish  coast. 


INDEX 


Abbey  vows,  247 

African  proverbial   lore,  14,  31, 

61,  64,  70,  79,  95,  98,  no,  162 - 

236 
Ailments,  women's,  5 
Albrighton  Church  legend,  283 
Allusions,  local,  to  women,  125- 

137 
Alsatian  adage,  67 
Amatory  potions,  10 1 
American,  South,  customs,  61 
Anchuelos,  secret  of,  109 
Andrew's  Day,  St.,  221 
Apes,  to  lead,  in  hell,  178,  179 
Arabic  proverbs,  12,  31,  90,  91 
Aspen  leaf  charm,  66 
Assamese  proverbs,  4,  9 

Bad  women,  84-93 
Balzac,  on  woman,  32 
Banns,  marriage,  226 
Baptismal  superstitions,  236-239 
Basil,  in  love-philtres,  104 
Basque  superstition,  101 
Bat's  blood,  103 

"  Bean  Belly  Leicestershire,"  46 
Beans,  in  love-charms,  106 
Beaumout  and  Fletcher  quoted, 

119 
Beauty  in  woman,  15-33 

absence  of,  28 

deceptive,  30 

evanescent,  18 

power  of,  25-26 

skin  deep,  25 

sleep,  22 

snares  of,  19 

unfortunate,  15-16,  17 

Bede's  chair,  214 


Ben  Jonson,  quoted,  109 

Bengal  adage,  182 

Beverley,  two  sisters  of,  204-205 

Minster,  204 

Black  Agnes,  57 

cat,  224 

eyes,  6,  55-58 

hair,  6,  7,  56 

man,  5,  6 

woman,  5,  6 

Blemishes  unseen  by  night,  39 
Blue  eyes,  7,  48,  53,54 

superstitions,  44 

vein,  219 

Bluebeard,  191 
Blueness  about  the  eyes,  55 
Blushes,  231-234 
Blushing  in  dark,  233,  234 
"  Bottle  of  Moss,"  208 
Brahmin  custom,  118 
Bread  in  love-charms,  106 
Brides,  206-215 

chair,  214 

dress,  45 

maids,  206-215 

of  Preston,  133 

Brown-eyed,  54,  58 

wench,  7 

Browning,  Mrs.,  quoted,  32 
Buckinghamshire,   freeman    of, 

153 

saying,  135 

Burleigh,  Lord,  quoted,  146 
Burmese  adage,  2 
Byron,   Lord,  quoted,    1,  2,  16, 
77,92 

Carrot,  in  love-charm,  104 
Cat  superstitions,  223,  224 


249 


250 


Index 


Catullus,  quoted,  121 

Donington  Church  legend,  203 

"  Cave  of  the  Seven  Sisters,"  201 

Donivald,  St.,  200 

of  the  Nine,  202 

Dorothy  Vernon's  Door,  246 

Chair,  Bede's,  214 

Dorothy's  Walk,  246 

bride's,  at  Warton,  214 

Dream  superstitions,  222,  223 

Charms,  woman's,  6 

Dress,  woman's,  34-47 

to  bring  back  youth's,  20-23 

deceptive,  34,  35 

Chastity,  8,  12,  89 

extravagant,  condemned,  36 

Cheek-burning,  219 

inconsistency  of,  37 

"  Cherchez  lafemme"  87 

Dryden,  quoted,  no,  124 

Cheshire  sayings,  72,  131,    132    . 

Duchess  Walk,  246 

165,  240 

Dunmow  Flitch,  148 

"  Children  of  the  gods,"  women 

Durham  adage,  239 

so-called,  6 

Dutch  adage,  160 

Chin,  mole  on,  217 

Chinese  proverbs,  8,  10,  11,  17, 

Easter  lore,  43 

35,  38,  41,  63,  74,  75,  80,  84,  97, 

Evil  eye,  219 

98,  155.  157,  159,  160, 162,  168, 

Eye,  evil,  219 

170,  172,  183,  184,  189 

Eyebrows  meeting,  59-60,  218 

Christmas  Day  child,  217 

colour  of,  60-61 

Church  legends,  83 

Eyelids,  58 

porch,  marriage  in,  209 

Eyes,  superstitions   relating  to, 

Churches,  the  sister,  205 

218 

Circassian  women,  232 

woman's,  48-62 

Colour  in  dress,  43-45 

Coneyborough,  Lady,  her  walk, 

Fair  Phillis's  Walk,  243 

244 

Fairies,  beauty  of,  27-28 

Conventional  marriages,  152 

Fickleness  of  woman,  97,  120- 

Cornish  proverb,  135 

124 

Countess  Pillar,  245 

Fielding,  quoted,  16 

Coventry,  191 

Five    Sisters,   lancets    in    York 

Cowthorne  Church  legend,  203 

Minster  so-called,  201 

Crowing  hen,  72-75 

Flowers  in  love-philtres,  103 

Cumin-seed  in  love-tests,  104 

"  Folke  Stone  Washerwomen," 

Curiosity,  woman's,  191-198 

135 

Francis  I.,  121 

Dalton  Hill  Head,  192 

French  proverbs,  2,  3,  9,  20,  20, 

Danish  sayings,  5,  70 

30,  38,  40,  41,  67,  73,  77,  90, 

Dante,  quoted,  50 

93-95.  99.  100,  no,  in,  117, 

Dark,  blushing  in,  233-234 

121,  148,  151,  154,  191,  228 

Darwin,  quoted,  234 

Friday's  dreams,  223 

Daughters,  177,   178,    185,  235- 

240 
Denton  Hall,  203 

Furness  Abbey  tradition,  247 

Gape-seed,  170 

Derwentwater,  Countess  of,  243 

Gay,  quoted,  47,  102,  188 

Devil's  door-nail,  84 

German  proverbs,  2,  3,  5,  8,  9, 

seat  at  Yarmouth,  214 

12,  19,  20,  23,  25,  26,  29,  30,  36, 

tools,  women  so-called,  88 

40,  41,  65,  67,  70,  75,  77,  84, 

Dill  at  a  wedding,  210 

100,  108,    112,    120,    159,    163, 

Done,  Lady,  as  fair  as,  131 

t66,    167,    172,    173,    183,  186, 

Doneraile,  Lord,  196 

187,  210,  235,  239 

Index 


251 


Ghost-lore,  195 

Gipsy  rhyme,  169 

Girlhood,  176 

Glen  of  Ogilvy,  Maidens  of,  199, 

200 
Godiva,  Lady,  191 
Goethe,  quoted,  85,  145 
Good  looks,  20 
"  Good  Woman,"  The,  64 
Goodness  of  woman,  77-83 
Gossiping  wives,  169 
"  Grained    like    a    Wellcombe 

Woman,"  135 
Green,  44 

eyes,  48-49 

eyed  monster,  50 

Grey  eyes,  53,  55,  58 

Guy's  Cave,  243 

Gwendron  parish  legend,  202 

Haddon  Hall,  247 

Hair  in  love-philtres,  106-107 

Hasty  love,  96 

Hate,  in  woman,  99,  100 

Hawthorn,  21 

Head,  itching  of,  220 

Headless  woman,  64 

Hebrew  adage  on  beauty,  29 

Henry  IV.  of  Germany,  31 

Hindustani  proverbs,  3, 4,  13,  14, 
18,  31,  36,  40,  42,46,  54,  63,  69, 
71,  76,  86,  91,  100,  142,  156, 
161,  166,  169,  172,  175,  176, 
182-185 

Hugo,  Victor,  85 

Hunt,  Leigh,  quoted,  62 

Influence  of  woman,  2 

Inns  of  Court,  old  rhyme  on,  130 

Intelligence  of  woman,  2 

Isle  of  Man,  42 

Italian  proverbs,  6,  9,  14,  19,  26, 
35,  38,  40,  42,  68,  74,  «o,  84,  88, 
93,  103,  104,  151,  154,  173 

Itching  of  head,  220 

Japanese  lore,  34,  61,  74-75 
Jasmine,  in  love-charms,  105 
Jealousy,  95 

"  John  Tomson's  man,"  167 
Judas-coloured  hair,  118 


Kashmiri  proverbs,  3,    10,    143, 

173 

Keats,  quoted,  53 

Kentish  folk-lore,  135 

Keys  of  human  face,  eyes  so- 
called,  48 

Kingsley,  Charles,  quoted,  59 

"  Ladies'  Rock,"  246 

steps,  246 

Lady  Coneyborough's  Walk,  244 

Done,  as  fair  as,  131 

Freemason,  196-197 

Mary,  134 

Studeley's  Diche,  137 

Winter's  Walk,  242 

with  the  lantern,  248 

"  Lady's  Rake,"  243 
Lancashire  fair-women,  127 

proverbs,  143-180 

Leicestershire  lore,  45,  46,  85 

Leger,  Miss  St.,  196 

Lilburn,  Lady,  137 

Lillo,  George,  193 

Linton  Church  legend,  83,  199 

Lizard,  in  love-philtres,  103 

Long  Megg  of  Westminster,  136 

Longfellow,  quoted,  51 

Looking-glass  superstition,  225 

Louvain  legend,  205 

Love,  woman's,  92-100 

blind,  31,  32 

philtres,  102-153 

powders,  102 

steps  of  Dorothy  Vernon, 

246 

tests,  101-107 

Lytton,  Lord,  quoted,  88 

Mab's  Cross,  245 

Lane,  245 

Mackay,  Charles,  quoted,  184 
Maidens  of  Ogilvy,  199,  200 
Malay  proverb,  1 1 
Male-fern,  as  love-charm,  104 
Mandrake,  in  love-philtres,  104 
Mango,  as  charm,  105 
Marathi  proverbs,    13,   86,   162. 

163,  172,  184 
Marriage,  144-157 
is  destiny,  156 


252 


Index 


Married  eyebrows,  61 

"  Queen's  Gap,"  244 

Mary,  Lady,  134 

May  Chet,  217 

Rahelais,  story  quoted  by,   140, 

May-day,  21,  23 

141 

marriage,  225 

Red,  44 

Meeting  eyebrows,  61 

haired  barbarians,  115 

Melusine,  112 

devils,  115 

Michelet,  on  woman,  1 

girls,  113-119 

Middleton,  quoted,  117 

Richter,  quoted,  1 

Modesty  in  woman,  1 1 

Rosamond's  Way,  245 

Mole  on  neck,  217 

Rosemary,  20 

"  Moor  Stones,"  202 

Ruses  of  woman,  10 

Moore,  quoted,  105 

Russian  proverbs,  3,  8,  74,  168 

Moss,  bottle  of,  208 

Mother-in-law,  148,  149 

Sabrina  fair,  247 

My  Lady's  Walk,  242-248 

Salt  at  a  wedding,  210 

Sanskrit  wisdom,  2,  8,  85 

Nails,  in  love-charms,  106 

Saturday's  dreams,  226 

Napoleon,  15 

Schiller,  on  woman,  139 

Neck,  mole  on,  217 

Scotch  proverbs,  38,  65,  71,  81, 

New  clothes,  luck  of,  43 

82,90,91,94,132,136,142,145, 

Newark  Castle,  245 

151,    153,   158,    171,  177,    179, 

Nine,  Cave  of  the,  202 

180,  224,  228,  230 

"  Nine  Maidens,"  legend  of,  200 

Scots,  Mary  Queen  of,  244 

of  Pitempan,  200 

Scott,  Sir  W.,  57,  174,  176,  229, 

Maiden  Well,  200 

246 

Northamptonshire  adage,  240 

Secrets,  woman's,  108,  112 

Selden,  quoted,  145 

Oaks,  Seven,  203 

Servain  adages,  19, 167 

Old  maids,  175-182 

Seven  Oaks,  203 

Molly  Lee,  137 

Sisters,  203 

Oriental  wisdom,  2,  4,  13,  123, 

Shakespeare,  6,  13,  18,  27,  28,  32, 

163,  168,  169,  189,  207,  240 

37,  41,  48,  50,  '56,  60,  69,  95, 

Ormskirk  Church  legend,  204 

102,  108,  150,  179,  218,  221, 

Osmandi  proverb,  82 

Shirley,  quoted,  117 

Oxford  wives,  131 

Shoe  superstitions,  223 

Shropshire  belief,  224,  226 

Painted  woman,  9,  38 

Sidney,  Sir  Philip,  123 

Pansy,  in  love-charms,  103 

Silence,  a  jewel  in  women,  69 

"  Peeping  Tom,"  191 

"  Silent  Woman,"  The,  64 

Pepper  Gate,  133 

"  Silky,"  a  spirit  so  called,  203 

Persian  lore,  74,  161 

Sindhi  proverbs,  10,  29,  36,  38, 

Petrarch,  quoted,  113,  116 

40,  120,  153 

Petticoats,  superstitions  relating 

Sinhalese  wisdom,  84,  169 

to,  46 

Sister  Churches,  204 

Pins,  47-48 

legends,  199-205 

Pope,  quoted,  1,  88,  121 

Sisters,  Cave  of  the  Seven,  201 

Poppy-lore,  45 

of  Beverley,  204,  205 

Portugese  proverbs,  22,  38,  74 

Seven,  203 

Praed,  W.  M.,  quoted,  64 

the  Five,  201 

Preston,  Bride  of,  133 

Sneezing  superstition,  224 

Index 


253 


Southey,  quoted,  96 

Spanish  proverbs,  3,  29,  34,  35, 
38,  49,54.71,70,79,  108,  in, 
147,  148,  154,  160,  162,  166, 
173-175,  179,  i«4,  i85,  229, 
235' 

Spenser,  quoted,  142 

Suffolk  rhymes,  42,  47,  79-80, 
170 

fair  maids,  128 

Sunday's  child,  217 

Superstitions  about  women,  216- 
227 

Sussex  lore,  42,  135,  210 

Syrian  adage,  147 

Talmud  proverbs,  157,  168 

Tamerlane's  wife,  30 

Tamil  wisdom,  5,  8,  12,  13,  29, 

35,36,  110,  162 
Tansy  in  folk-medicine,  21 
Tastes,  woman's,  5 
Tears,  woman's,  187,  228-230 
Teeth  superstition,  220 
Tennvson,  Lord,  quoted,  16,  18, 

24,  90,  173 
Thackeray's  heroines,  7,  93,  94 
Thiers,  quoted,  116 
Thorns,  the  Seven,  203 
Tongue,  woman's,  63-76 
Tristram  and  Ysonde,  ioi 
True-love  charm,  223 
Trust  in  woman,  70 
Truthfulness  in  woman,  9 
Turkish  lore,  10,  60,  70 

Ugly  women,  28,  29,  34,  162 

Vanity  in  woman,  29 
Vein,  blue,  219 
Vervain,  in  love-philtres,  104 
Virgin's  Meadow,  247 
Voltaire,  quoted,  185-186 

Wafer,  holy,  in  love-charms,  103 
Walk,  My  Lady's,  242-248 
"Wandering  Shepherdess,"  247 
Warrickshire  lore,  54 


Welsh  proverbs,  14,  19,  29,  32, 

63,  67,  166 

folk-tale,  193-195 

Wem,  women  of,  138 
Westminster,    Long    Megg   of, 

136 
Whistling  woman,  71-76 

legends,  73 

White,  44 
Whitsuntide,  43 

bad, 159 

Widows,  183-190 

Wife,  choice  of,  38,  147-153 

Will,  woman's,  68 

Wise  woman,  219 

Withernsea  Church  legend,  204 

Woman,  headless,  64 

wise,  219 

Woman's  characteristics,  1-14 

beauty,  15-33 

blushes,  231-234 

dress,  34-47 

eyes,  48-62 

fickleness,  97,  120-124 

glory,  23 

hate,  99,  100 

Island,  91 

love,  92-100 

secrets,  108-112 

tears,  228-230 

tongue,  63-76 

will,  138-143 

Women,  as  wives,  158-174 

bad,  84-91 

good,  9,  13,  77-83 

of  Wem,  133 

scarcity  of  good,  79 

■  superstitions    relating     to, 

216-227 

treatment  of,  80 

Written  charms,  106-107 

Yarmouth,  Devil's  Seat  at,  214 
Yellow,  44 

hair,  119 

York  Minster,  201 
Yorkshire  lore,  44,  46,  204,  221, 
236,  237 


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